The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is calling on the international community to work urgently on restoring peace in Lebanon and mobilizing more resources to respond to the dire humanitarian crisis.
With over 2,000 deaths and more than 800,000 displaced, IOM warned participants at the International Conference in Support of Lebanon's People and Sovereignty in Paris on Thursday that further deterioration of the humanitarian conditions will have dire consequences for civilians.
"Our message today is loud and clear. It is a message of solidarity with all people in Lebanon," said IOM's Deputy Director General for Operations, Ugochi Daniels. "We need to see concrete actions to end the hostilities, and we need the resources and the access to bring lifesaving aid to hundreds of thousands of civilians gravely affected by the ongoing fighting."
The crisis has equally affected the Lebanese population, refugees, and migrants. Over a million people have become displaced or left the country, including Syrians who returned to Syria to seek safety. They all urgently require shelter, food, hygiene supplies, healthcare, protection, and psychosocial support.
IOM has launched an appeal for USD 32.4 million to cover the most urgent needs between now and December 2024, including essential relief, winterization support, healthcare, shelter, protection, psychosocial support, and displacement tracking.
It is part of a larger USD 426 million UN appeal, launched on the 1 October to respond to the needs by the end of the year.
Lebanon was already reeling from a protracted political and socio-economic crisis before the ongoing escalation, with more than 3.7 million people in need of humanitarian assistance.
IOM estimates that 180,000 migrants from nearly 100 countries were living in Lebanon prior to the crisis, mostly female domestic workers. Almost one in ten of them have been displaced by the conflict and most of them have been affected, including those who have not been displaced.
Since the beginning of October, IOM has received over 1,500 new requests from individuals seeking support to return to their countries of origin, bringing the total number requests to over 3,000 since late September. Additionally, several embassies have sought IOM's assistance to evacuate over 18,000 of their citizens.
