Syrian refugee children peer from a tent supplied by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in al-Marj, in the eastern Lebanese Bekaa Valley. (AFP)
Speaking exclusively to Asharq Al-Awsat, Saudi ambassador to Lebanon, Ali Awad Asiri, revealed that “the Kingdom has been providing assistance to displaced Syrians in Lebanon since the beginning of the Syrian crisis via the International Islamic Relief Organization, Saudi Arabia (IIROSA) and the Saudi National Campaign to Support the Brothers in Syria.”
The Saudi national campaign and IIROSA are both operating in coordination with Lebanese authorities, particularly the Ministry of Social Affairs and the High Relief Commission.
Asiri asserted that the Lebanese authorities and Saudi humanitarian campaigns are strongly coordinating in terms of exchanging information about the numbers, location, and needs of the displaced Syrians present in Lebanon. Both parties are also cooperating with the United Nations humanitarian bodies.
He added that since the beginning of the Syrian crisis IIROSA—which falls under the purview of the Muslim World League—has provided hundreds of thousands of food rations to Syrians who have fled the protracted fighting in their home country. IIROSA has also assisted Lebanese hospitals to provide service to displaced Syrians in the country, while also contacting pharmacies and clinics to provide free medicine. In addition to this, IIROSA has also helped displaced Syrians find short and long-term accommodation, setting up a reception center to provide basic necessities and host them for the first few days in the country, until they can find more permanent accommodation.
The ambassador also informed Asharq Al-Awsat that the national Saudi campaign to help the Syrian people has also distributed hundreds of thousands of food rations and blankets to displaced Syrians across Lebanon. Furthermore, the campaign has established a health center—staffed with a fully trained medial team—that specializes in treating Syrian nationals, adding that the humanitarian campaign is also working to distribute medicine to those in need. In addition to this, the Saudi campaign has also provided accommodation to displaced Syrians, including paying 6-months rent for more than one thousand Syrian nationals. The campaign—in coordination with IIROSA—is also working to ensure that Syrian children in Lebanon are provided with education.
Asiri emphasized that the directive issued by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, to provide humanitarian aid and assistance to displaced Syrians in Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey, is nothing new in the history of Saudi leadership. He affirmed that Riyadh has also been quick to provide such aid and assistance across the world, adding that Saudi Arabia was the first Arab country to announce its support for the Syrian revolution. He also stressed that humanitarian initiative stems from the generosity and magnanimity that characterizes the Saudi leadership and the belief that Arab concerns must be dealt with in a united manner and that it is a brother’s duty to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with his brother during times of hardship.
He also confirmed the appreciation of the Lebanese authorities for Saudi Arabia’s assistance and aid for the displaced Syrians, saying this has eased the burden on the Lebanese state. Asiri stressed that both IIROSA and the national campaign are working diligently and coordinating with one another, along with the Lebanese and international authorities, to distribute aid to displaced Syrians across the country.