Since the start of heavy Israeli attacks in Lebanon, ‘significantly more’ than 30,000 people have fled to neighboring Syria, according to UN reports.
About 80% would be Syrian nationals, the rest mostly Lebanese, said Gonzalo Vargas Llosa, representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Syria.
He spoke via video link to reporters in Geneva from the Lebanese-Syrian border on Friday.
That number more than doubled Thursday’s official estimate of 13,500 people who had sought safety in Syria out of desperation.
“Both Syrians and Lebanese are moving from a country at war to a country that has been dealing with crises and conflicts for thirteen years – we cannot imagine what an incredibly difficult choice that is – more than 30,000 people have made that choice,” said he.
According to UN reports, 110,000 people had already been displaced in Lebanon before the recent escalation. Since last week, another 118,000 people have joined them, said Imran Riza, the UN humanitarian coordinator in the Lebanese capital Beirut.
