Amos in Beirut over Refugee Crisis as Kelley Urges Authorities to Specify Next Step

U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos is expected to visit Beirut on Thursday to discuss how world powers can support Lebanon which is overwhelmed by the Syrian refugee crisis.

Discussions between Amos and Lebanese officials are expected to focus on the latest measures taken by the Lebanese authorities to control the flow of refugees to Lebanon.

Starting Monday, the government began implementing strict new visa regulations, saying it simply cannot handle any more people displaced by the ongoing civil war.

The violence in Syria between forces loyal to President Bashar Assad and those opposed to his rule have caused more than 3 million people to flee the country, mainly to neighboring Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan and Iraq. Western countries have only accepted small numbers of refugees.

Lebanese officials say they can't absorb any more, estimating there are about 1.5 million Syrians in Lebanon, about one-quarter of the total population. Some 1.1 million are registered with the U.N.'s refugee agency.

Amos' visit comes as the refugees are bearing the brunt of a severe snowstorm that has been lashing Lebanon since Tuesday.

A Syrian man and a six-year-old boy died on Wednesday in the Shebaa region of south Lebanon.

The two Syrians were refugees crossing the mountainous border between Syria and Lebanon, where temperatures plunged as low as minus 7 degrees Celsius.

Many refugees in Lebanon were trapped in their tents by snow, struggling to stay warm in temperatures hovering around zero degrees.

Meanwhile, Ninette Kelley, UNHCR's representative in Lebanon, told An Nahar in remarks published on Thursday that the new measures against the Syrians were “an official recognition of the procedures that had been previously implemented” by the General Security Department.

“We weren't surprised by the announcement,” she said.

Kelley expressed understanding at the reasons that forced the government to put such restrictions on the Syrians but urged it to specify the next steps it intends to take.

G.K.

H.K.