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Syria refugee burns himself in protest against UN aid cuts

January 11, 2018 at 11:52 am

Syria refugee receives medical care after he burnt himself in protest against UN aid cuts [HadiAlabdallah/Twitter]

Syrian refugee Riad Zibo set himself on fire outside a UN building in the Lebanese city of Tripoli protesting against aid cuts to his family, the Anadolu Agency reported yesterday.

Eyewitnesses said 45-year-old Zibo “got angry” after he was told the UN aid for his family was cut. “He started screaming and brought gasoline, poured it on his body and set fire to himself.” He suffered severe burns and was evacuated to Al-Salam Hospital.

The hospital’s director said the “Syrian refugee had severe burns in his face, upper parts of his body, his belly, chest and parts of the lower areas of his body that cover about 35 per cent of his body.”

“The patient arrived at the hospital in a very bad condition, but he is currently stable. Likely, he wanted to drag attention to his critical situation as a Syrian refugee in Lebanon.”

Poverty push Syrian children in Lebanon to marry and work

On Tuesday, a study prepared jointly by UN bodies showed that 58 per cent of the Syrian refugees in Lebanon live in extreme poverty and 75 per cent live under the poverty line.

There were 997,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon at the end of November 2017, compared to 1.1 million in December 2016, according to the UN High Commission for Refugees.