Speaking from Damascus, the United Nations refugee agency (unhcr)’s representative in Syria, Asir al-Mada’ein, said the country had seen a “sharp increase” in people crossing the border from Lebanon – more than 200,000 between March 2 and 27.
“The vast majority, about 180,000, are Syrians, including Syrian refugees who fled Syria in the past to seek safety in Lebanon and are now forced to flee again,” he said.
More than 28,000 Lebanese have also crossed into Syria.
run away with nothing
“Most people are fleeing Israel’s fierce bombardment,” Ms al-Madaieen told reporters in Geneva. “They arrive tired, in shock and with very little luggage.”
The UNHCR representative said the agency was preparing for up to 350,000 people to enter Syria, depending on the direction of the conflict.
The humanitarian crisis is worsening more than a month after Israeli and US air strikes on Iran began, sparking a wider regional war, with supply lines already severely disrupted across the Middle East.
United Nations World Food Program (UNWFP)wfp)’s supply director, Chen Corinne Fleischer, said the agency is concerned about “all of (its) larger operations.”
WFP currently has “70,000 metric tons of food that is affected by the war…about half of them are on chartered bulk ships and the other half are in containers that are either en route or stuck in port and not moving,” he said.
Speaking from Rome, Ms Fletcher clarified that WFP does not have any ships in the Strait of Hormuz, but is “impressed by the impact of what is happening there… ships are stuck in ports, not reaching ports, not leaving ports, containers not being unloaded”.
covid example
The WFP official warned that similar global supply chain disruptions were seen during COVID.Once the situation stabilizes, it will take four to five months to come back to its place.“.
Shipping costs have increased as carriers avoid the Suez Canal linked to the Middle East war and have to re-route around the Cape of Good Hope. This adds 30 days to the journey and increases rates by 15 to 25 percent, with the increase in fuel prices also affecting the profits of companies.
Speaking about mitigation measures, Ms Fleischer explained that WFP is “seeking priority cargo for humanitarian operations” as it is the only UN organization that has its own shipping department linked directly with shipping lines and vessel owners.
He said the agency has successfully negotiated waivers for at-risk shipping lines in the Middle East and the surcharges being imposed by some ports, which range from $2,000 to $4,000 per container – saving about $1.5 million so far.
Delay in aid to Afghanistan
For example, WFP is also sending cargo to Afghanistan, where 17 million people are food insecure.
Ms Fleischer said earlier this year, food aid destined for Pakistan was affected by the Pakistan-Afghanistan war and was initially re-routed through Iran.
“When we were (changing the route) to go to Bandar Abbas port in Iran, the war broke out,” he said. “We had to keep it in Jebel Ali (port) in Dubai and now we will truck it from Dubai through Saudi Arabia… This involves about 1,000 euros per tonne and of course an additional three weeks.”
The WFP official expressed further concern about Sudan, where 19 million people are “severely hungry”, as well as Somalia and South Sudan, where operations are being hampered by long delays and high costs.
“Funding for humanitarian operations has not been where it should be for many years,” he said. “We have destroyed any buffer stock. We are living hand to mouth in these operations.”
He stressed that there is “no time” for famine in areas of Sudan. “Our operations and pipelines do not allow re-routing via the Horn of Africa for more than three weeks.”
