TEHRAN –In cooperation with other international societies, the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) has provided rescue services to Syrian refugees in the south of Lebanon.

The IRCS has dispatched a relief team to Lebanon to assist and protect Syrian refugees, IRNA quoted the IRCS director for international affairs, Razieh Alishvandi, as saying.

In collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the team has so far provided emergency accommodation for homeless Syrians. 

Currently, a camp with 60 tents has been set up due to the availability of necessary infrastructure, including sanitary facilities and flat land, she said.

Referring to the critical conditions of Syrian refugees in different areas of Lebanon, Alishvandi said, “The refugees in these areas need immediate shelter, therefore the Iranian Red Crescent Society will set up a camp with a capacity of 1,000 beds in the area. It will be developed later to meet the needs of refugees based on the situation of the border areas.”

Lebanese Red Cross seeks IRCS cooperation 

In November 2024, the secretary general of the Lebanese Red Cross, Georges Kettaneh, called the IRCS to help provide accommodation and medical services to war-affected people in Lebanon following the ceasefire.

The secretary general of the IRCS, Meysam Afshar, and Alishvandi paid a visit to Beirut to assess the needs of war-affected people in order to facilitate the provision of humanitarian aid in the region.

“The displaced people have begun returning home after the announcement of the ceasefire, but the health and treatment facilities in Lebanon have been almost destroyed,” The IRCS website quoted Kettaneh as saying.

Referring to the IRCS as one of the top societies in the world, Kettaneh said, “There are no field hospitals in conflict zones, so there is no capacity or infrastructure to address people’s medical needs. 

Also, one of our main concerns is that the winter is approaching while many are homeless as 4,600 houses were completely ruined in the war.”

The official went on to say that the tents, manufactured by the IRCS, were extremely useful in sheltering displaced people. “We desperately need these tents to shelter more Lebanese in the future.”

Moreover, Afshar and Alishvandi, in a meeting with Cristhian Cortez Cardoza, the IFRC deputy director for emergency response and operations in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in Beirut discussed opportunities for enhanced collaboration to address urgent needs and provide relief to war-affected communities.

MT/MG