West Bank, ALRAY - Visiting Palestinian camps in Lebanon, UNRWA Deputy Commissioner-General Leni Stenseth warned of the poverty rate among Palesrinian refugees in Lebanon.

Stenseth held on Wednesday a press conference following her tour to refugees’ camps in Lebanon and meeting a number of Palestinian officials and associations, assessing the refugee situation in Lebanon.

She noted that the rate of poverty among Palestinian refugees has dangerously raised to 70-90%, noting that most of the refugees are unable to secure the necessities of daily life.

She expressed her grave sadness regarding the miserable situation of the camps and the suffering of their people. She stressed the importance to work to secure aid for the refugees, unless the situation constitutes a challenge for Europe in light of the large number of immigrants.

The future of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon is unsecured, if UNRWA did not offer more aids to the refugees, she said.

She also noted that the number of students who go to school is decreased because of the high cost of transportation in Lebanon, in addition to the shortage of food; many Palestinian families said that they had reduced their meals portions.

She called for an urgent emergency plan to support the refugees, warning that the current financial crisis affects all Lebanese including the displaced Syrians, Palestinian refugees, and Palestinians who were displaced from Syria.

She called to provide an urgent aid amount to 13.2 million dollars before the end of this year to support the hospital, medical and transportation sectors for students in order to obtain their right to education.

Lebanon has suffered of acute economic crisis since 2019, the World Bank classified it as one of the 3 most severe crises the world has known, that led to an unprecedented financial collapse and a scarcity of fuel, energy and other basic commodities, as well as a poverty rate rise to 82 percent.

The number of refugees registered on UNRWA's lists in Lebanon is about 463,664, according to a report it issued in January 2017.

According to an official Palestinian-Lebanese census conducted in 2017, the number of Palestinian refugees is approximately 174,422 refugees living in 12 camps and 156 Palestinian gatherings in various Lebanese regions.