Turkish charity helps Syrian refugees in Lebanon

BEIRUT-Anadolu Agency

The Istanbul-based Humanitarian Relief Foundation (İHH) distributed blankets and fuel to Syrian refugees living in sub-human conditions in Lebanon.

Emre Kaya, the Middle East Desk coordinator for İHH, said the Lebanese city of Arsal was home to nearly 60,000 Syrian refugees who are struggling to survive in make-shift tents in harsh winter conditions.

The İHH helped out more than 2,000 families with their humanitarian aid supplies.

Noting that temperatures could drop to minus 15C (5F), Kaya said the charity gave 20 liters of fuel for heating to 1,100 families and blankets to as many.

The official figures suggest that about 1.5 million Syrians fled their country and took refuge in Lebanon since 2011, when civil war broke in the country.

According to U.N.-affiliated researches, every nine out of 10 Syrians in Lebanon suffer from extreme poverty.