UNHCR Assistance Reaches Al Raqqa ; Influx into Lebanon continues from Al-Qusayr

On 9 and 12 June, UNHCR emergency relief assistance reached Al Raqqa, an area of northern Syria which has not been accessible for the past three months and where the humanitarian situation is reported to be extremely dire. Taking advantage of a window of opportunity, nine trucks filled with mattresses, blankets, hygiene kits and kitchen sets were dispatched from Damascus. Seven are confirmed to have reached Raqqa and confirmation is awaited for the last two. This assistance will help some 5,000 persons displaced in this area.

Also this week, UNHCR's team in Syria started distribution of financial help to displaced Syrian families in Tartus, a city on the coast. The displaced are from Aleppo, which is about 200 kilometres away. Families live in the collective shelters that UNHCR's team has visited and supported in Tartus since April.

As of Thursday 13 June, UNHCR has helped close to 800 families in Tartus with cash assistance (or over 3,200 displaced persons) out of a target of 1,110 families. All families have been selected according to their level of vulnerability. The average assistance amounts to US$150 per family. Surveys carried out by UNHCR earlier this year in Damascus and Rural Damascus during similar distributions have shown that families were using the cash mainly for rent, fresh food and cooking gas.

After Damascus and Rural Damascus earlier this year and Tartus this week, UNHCR is planning in the next months to help vulnerable displaced families with similar assistance in nine governorates across the country, starting with Homs and Damascus.