The International Organization for Migration (IOM) called on the international community to provide funding of $ 10.3 million to help more than 43.000 people affected by the Beirut Port explosion that occurred on August 4.
Angela Wells, head of IOM’s operations and emergencies department, said in a press conference that was held in Geneva on Friday, that the international community must not forget the migrants and refugees in Lebanon.
Wells added that the Beirut explosion destroyed the economically deprived areas in Beirut and Mount Lebanon that hosts large numbers of migrant workers and Syrian refugees, and that the organization estimates that approximately 8% of the estimated 300.000 people affected from the Greater Beirut area are migrant workers, mainly from Ethiopia, Bangladesh and the Philippines.
Wells also added that at least 150 migrant workers were injured in the blast and 15 others were killed.
IOM Migration indicated that many of these migrant workers were already suffering from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the prolonged economic downturn in Lebanon, which disproportionately affected migrants and refugees. It was clear according to a classification that it conducted between May and July 2020 classified 40% of the migrant workers surveyed as Suffering from food insecurity, while 74% reported that there was no source of income at all.
#IOM #Migrants #BeirutBlast #Repercussions #Aid
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