A large number of people are fleeing Lebanon for Syria and other regions they believe will be safer for their families as Israel hints at a possible ground invasion. Many of them were previously displaced Palestinian and Syrian refugees.
Speaking in an interview with Salaamedia, Talha Keskin of the IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) estimated half the country’s population was on the move. There are 5.2 million people.
“Tens of thousands of people are on the road. Actually, we can say half of the country is now on the move. Either there are people moving from south to north, or towards Syrian borders.”
He noted that many who were now fleeing to other parts of Lebanon, such as Beirut, as well as Syria.
“Lebanon is a tiny country in the Middle East, but hosting millions of refugees. Not just Syrians, but also Palestinians [who] came more than 50 years ago. Those people were already displaced several times before this current development.”
“People actually don’t know what they are going to find in Syria … Syria is still in war, maybe not as bad as in the past, but there is still conflict going on in Syria. It shows how desperate people are in Lebanon, trying to go to Syria which people left for a decade.”
