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UN: One million Syrian refugees registered in Lebanon

April 12, 2014 at 2:24 pm

The number of Syrian refugees who fled the conflict in their country and moved to Lebanon has exceeded one million, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees announced today.


UNHCR chief Antonio Guterres said in a statement that the number is equivalent to a quarter of the population of Lebanon and he described the figure as “a devastating milestone worsened by rapidly depleting resources and a host community stretched to breaking point”.

According to the statement; three years after the outbreak of the conflict in Syria, Lebanon has “the highest per-capita concentration of refugees worldwide” and the number increases daily.

Guterres said: “In April 2012 there were 18,000 registered Syrian refugees in Lebanon but in April 2013 the number increased to 356,000 refugees and in April 2014 the number reached one million” pointing out that 2,505 new refugees enter the country every minute.

“The Lebanese are showing remarkable generosity but they are struggling to cope with the situation. Lebanon hosts the largest density of refugees in modern history and we cannot let it bear this burden alone,” Guterres said.