Edinburgh charity in funding plea to save homes of Syrian refugees in Lebanon

A CAPITAL charity has launched an urgent appeal for funding to continue its work in a Lebanese refugee camp after thousands of displaced families were ordered to tear down their makeshift shelters following new government directives labelling them a “security risk”.

Syrian refugees in the Arsal camp have been ordered to tear down their building over what the Lebanese authorities have called "security risks"

Edinburgh Direct Aid (EDA) say 15,000 vulnerable people face the threat of eviction from the Arsal refugee camp during the summer months after officials threatened to bulldoze their walled structures over fears structures could become “defensible bases for terrorism”.

The charity - which has been working in the area for around six years - said the Lebanese authorities ordered those fleeing violence in neighbouring Syria to rebuild their shelters using “non-permanent” materials such as canvas and plastic sheeting.

Many refugees have already started tearing down buildings despite the prospect of a brutal summer where temperatures are widely expected to hit the 45-degree mark.

Charity Edinburgh Direct Aid say up to 15,000 people, including a number of young families, could see their shelters bulldozed unless they comply with the new regulations.

EDA workers travelled to the camp - located around 80 miles from the capital, Beirut - earlier this year during the harsh winter and are currently liaising with a number of humanitarian agencies on the ground as the demolition and rebuilding work gets underway.

Refugees were initially given until Monday, June 10 to comply with the orders, but the deadline has been extended until the end of the month after a number of aid workers appealed the decision.

However, EDA committee member, Ann Thanisch warned tearing down the buildings “would not be a quick fix,” adding time was running out to complete the demolition before the authorities take action.

She said: “It takes time to pull down walls and roofs, but it is quicker to pull them down than it is to rebuild. We are still in need of the timber for the wood frame to build the shelters and the plastic sheeting to make the covering.”

Lebanese authorities say they have brought in the new rules to stop the shelters becoming "defensible bases for terrorism".

“Many of those in the camp are vulnerable, they are children, disabled or elderly and can’t do the work themselves, so we need people who are equipped with the skills to rebuild.”

Since 2013, EDA has taken more than 30 tonnes of donations to Arsal, bringing everything from clothes and medicine to sewing machines and mobile phone repair kits.

Official figures reveal Lebanon is home to around a million Syrian refugees, however estimates put the actual total at close to 1.5 million, many in remote towns like Arsal.

Ann added: “There is also a lot of rubble to get rid of and the camps themselves are spread out. It is a big job and time is running out for these people who are so desperately in need of help.”

“If the structures are not pulled down by the deadline, they will quite simply be destroyed and the people left exposed to the elements."