Sheikh Hamdan orders aid for refugees

Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed, the Ruler’s Representative in the Western Region, has instructed the Emirates Red Crescent to provide Dh5 million in emergency relief aid for refugees in the Lebanese border town of Arsal.

ABU DHABI // Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed, the Ruler’s Representative in the Western Region, has instructed the Emirates Red Crescent (ERC) to provide Dh5 million in emergency relief aid for refugees in the Lebanese border town of Arsal.

Tens of thousands of people have been displaced after violent clashes erupted on Saturday between the Lebanese army and Islamist militants from the Islamic State and Al Nusra.

Many fled to neighbouring villages and towns already congested with Syrian refugees.

Sheikh Hamdan said the ERC had provided food, healthcare aid and shelter to about 120,000 Syrian refugees.

The large numbers of Arsal residents who fled the fighting had increased the burden on the ERC’s continuance of its humanitarian mission, he said.

Sheikh Hamdan also said the ERC had doubled its humanitarian relief campaigns for many troubled hotspots around the world.

Large numbers of displaced people sleep in the streets and public parks in Lebanon, and they are in dire need of water, food and shelter.