Beirut (
AsiaNews / Agencies) - The number of Syrian war refugees registered in Lebanon has
surpassed the figure of one million, equal to a quarter of the Lebanese
population residing in the country. The
figure was published by the UN High Commissioner
for Refugees ( UNHCR)
, describing it as "a
devastating milestone worsened by rapidly depleting resources and a host
community stretched to breaking point".
The
UNHCR states that Lebanon has now become the country with "the highest per
capita concentration of refugees worldwide".
The
civil war in Syria, which has lasted more than three years, has caused millions
of refugees to flee to Lebanon, but also Turkey, Iraq and Jordan. Lebanon
is also being weakened by political instability and security problems: the
Shiite militant party Hezbollah, an ally of President Bashar Assad, fights
alongside the Syrian regular army against the Sunni rebels. Because
of this there are clashes, attacks and violence between Sunnis and Shiites mainly
in the suburbs of Beirut and Tripoli, in Lebanon.