The number of Syrians registered as refugees in Lebanon has passed one million, giving the country the highest per-capita concentration of refugees worldwide, the UN refugee agency says.
"The influx of a million refugees would be massive in any country. For Lebanon, a small nation beset by internal difficulties, the impact is staggering," UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said on Thursday.
Refugees from Syria, half of them children, now equal almost a quarter of Lebanon's resident population of 4.4 million.
Most of them live in dire conditions and depend on aid for survival, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), while the influx has left Lebanon's sanitation, water and health services over-stretched.
"The Lebanese people have shown striking generosity, but are struggling to cope. Lebanon hosts the highest concentration of refugees in recent history," Guterres said.
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He appealed to the world community to increase support for Lebanon.
"The number of school-aged children is now over 400,000, eclipsing the number of Lebanese children in public schools. These schools have opened their doors to over 100,000 refugees, yet the ability to accept more is severely limited," he said.
Lebanon's Social Affairs Minister Rachid Derbas warned during a news conference in northern Lebanon that 2015 might see the number of Syrian refugees match Lebanon's own population.
