Angelina Jolie, Hollywood actress and special envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, recently travelled to Lebanon to highlight the plight of Syrian refugees.
The Oscar winner spent time with five siblings, forced to fend for themselves in a refugee camp in Lebanon. They were orphaned and fled Syria tio escape the conflict.
One of the children Hala, 11, witnessed her mother being crushed and killed after their house collapsed. Her father is still missing and thought to be dead.
The Syrian conflict is now in its fourth year but it's not just Syria that has been greatly affected. The conflict is spilling over into neighbouring Lebanon.
Lebanon is about a tenth the size of Tasmania, but it's sheltering a million Syrian refugees - and there are genuine fears it could collapse under the weight of the massive influx.
The UNHCR and the Lebanese government have both warned Lebanon simply cannot cope with the present situation without economic and financial support.
The country's foreign minister has warned the crisis is threatening the very existence of Lebanon.
They implored the world to share the burden of Syrian refugees.
"There is not a single country in the world today that is shouldering as much in proportion to its size as Lebanon," said Ninette Kelley, regional representative for Lebanon for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
"If this country is not bolstered, then the very real prospect of it collapsing and the conflict of Syria spreading full force to Lebanon becomes much more likely," she said during a visit to Washington.
Last month, top U.N. officials said that as Syria's grinding conflict enters its fourth bloody year, Syrians are set to replace Afghans as the world's largest refugee population.
Share
