23 Oct 2012

LEBANON / SYRIA REFUGEES

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) today announced that as of Monday, Lebanon has become the third country where the number of refugees from Syria has passed the 100,000 mark. UNICEF is running a water voucher programme to meet the emergency drinking water needs of families there. UNICEF

Posted at: October 23, 2012 5:54 pm

Duration: 04:03

Available in: SD

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STORY: LEBANON / SYRIA REFUGEES 
TRT: 4:03
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / ARABIC / NATS
 
DATELINE: 24 SEPTEMBER 2012, BEKAA REGION, LEBANON

SHOTLIST:
 
1. Wide shot, Arsal village in Lebanon's Bekaa region, a few kilometers from the Syrian border
2. Med shot, Arsal village
3. Wide shot, Syrian refugees living in a school in Bekaa converted into a shelter
4. Med shot, Syrian refugee women
5. Med shot, Syrian refugee child near garbage and rubble
6. Close up, Garbage and rubble
7. Close up, Hisham, Syrian refugee
8. Med shot, Hisham and friends in refugee shelter
9. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Hisham, Syrian refugee:
"It's known what life is like here. It's oppressive. We left Syria to escape suffering but here its worse. If I'm told there is a way, I'm ready to take my family back to Syria immediately."
10. Med shot, Syrian refugee children turning empty water faucets
11.  Close up, Syrian refugee boy turning empty water faucet
12.  Close up, water faucet and dirty water
13.  Close up, cigarette butt
14.  SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Jamil, Syrian refugee seeking shelter in Arsal school:
"Concerning water, every day we are having to pay for our own. Yesterday we bought a cistern, and as you can see, already, the faucets are empty."
15. Med shot, Abood Mustafa's backyard, Lebanese citizen sheltering Syrian refugees
16.  Med shot, Mustafa's son and young Syrian refugee girl
17.  Close up, young Syrian refugee girl
18.  Close up, Mustafa's son
19. Med shot, chickens in backyard
21. Med shot, makeshift toilet cabin
22. Close up, toilet
23. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Abood Mustafa, Lebanese citizen:
"The situation is grim, people are drained. We're sheltering these people. We're looking out for them as much as we're looking out for ourselves. People are arriving with nothing, they are naked. So we're doing whatever we can, we're building shelters, we're trying to make things work for them."
24.  Wide shot, Syrian refugees lining up in Arsal to receive vouchers in exchange for water
27.  Med shot, Syrian refugees receiving UNICEF water vouchers
28.  Close up, UNICEF voucher
29.  Med shot, voucher table
30.  SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Amal, Syrian refugee:
"What we need the most help with is water. We're not able to bathe and clean our children; we're not able to use the bathrooms ourselves. We aren't able to do anything without water which is why it is so crucial we get help in that respect."
31. Med shot, Annamaria Laurini, UNICEF Representative in Lebanon at voucher table
32. Close up, Annamaria Laurini, UNICEF Representative in Lebanon
33. Close up, voucher in hand
34. SOUNDBITE (English) Annamaria Laurini, UNICEF Representative in Lebanon:
"Water is extremely important in the life of the child, and the fact that the water can be collected with vouchers is going to save time to children which are the ones primarily tasked with his heavy duty. This means there will be free-up time for them to go to school, to play, and their personal hygiene will be taken care, and they will not be exposed to water disease."
35. Tracking shot, truck containing water driving through Arsal town
36. Close up, Syrian refugee boy pulling water hose onto roof
37. Med shot, Syrian refugees inserting water hose into cistern on roof
38.  Med shot, Arsal resident switching on water pump
39. Close up, water hose pumping water into cistern

STORYLINE:
 
Beyond those mountains lays war-torn Syria.

This is Lebanon's Bekaa region, home to an estimated 29,800 refugees.

They continue to cross through the official Masnaa border into villages like this one on a daily basis.

This former private school in the village of Arsal was turned into a shelter by its owner and houses at least 150 refugees. Here families have to pay a hundred dollars a month to the caretaker of the school to live in cramped rooms amidst debris and trash.

Hisham, who has been living here for four months says that living conditions have been getting worse by the day which is making him consider going back to Syria.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Hisham, Syrian refugee:
"It's known what life is like here. It's oppressive. We left Syria to escape suffering but here its worse. If I'm told there is a way, I'm ready to take my family back to Syria immediately"

A major issue is the lack of access to water.

The shelter barely has four functioning toilets, no showers and faucets are running dry. Its residents have to wash their children in buckets with water, water they have to pay for themselves.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Jamil, Syrian refugee:
"Concerning water, every day we have to pay for our own. Yesterday we bought a cistern, and as you can see, already, the faucets are empty.

In this tiny plot of land, Abood Mustafa, a Lebanese citizen has erected a wooden shack to house a Syrian family.

Despite already having to care for his family of 19, Abood is providing shelter for five.

All 24 of them share this rudimentary toilet.

A recent UNICEF-supported assessment of Syrian refugee families and the host communities showed an increasing number of cases of diarrhea caused by drinking water shortages, contaminated water and a lack of toilets.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Abood Mustafa, Lebanese citizen sheltering Syrian refugees:
"The situation is grim, people are drained. We're sheltering these people. We're looking out for them as much as we're looking out for ourselves. People are arriving with nothing, they are naked.  So we're doing whatever we can, we're building shelters, we're trying to make things work for them"

In partnership with "Action Contre la Faim" UNICEF is running a water voucher program to meet the emergency drinking water needs of families across the Bekaa valley.

The new voucher program is offering people 15 litres of water a day – the international standard during an emergency.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Amal, Syrian refugee:
"The help we need most is water. We're not able to bathe and clean our children; we're not able to use the bathrooms ourselves. We aren't able to do anything without water which is why it is so crucial we get help in that respect."

Annamaria Laurini, UNICEF's Representative in Lebanon oversees the distribution of vouchers to families.

The organization has found that due to the clean water shortages, children living in the Bekaa areas are at high risk of diseases like typhus, cholera and skin disease.

SOUNDBITE (English) Annamaria Laurini, UNICEF Representative in Lebanon: 
"Water is extremely important in the life of the child, and the fact that the water can be collected with vouchers is going to save time to children which are the ones primarily tasked with this heavy duty. This means there will be free-up time for them to go to school, to play, and their personal hygiene will be taken care, and they will not be exposed to water disease"

In exchange for one voucher, a local water trucking company delivers enough water for a month.

UNICEF's program now reaches 5,000 people, but the needs are much greater. The organization is planning to reach more than 50,000 people as soon as it can.

According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), It is estimated more than 100,000 Syrian refugees are now in Lebanon and numbers are increasing on a daily basis.