As Israeli bombings continue in Lebanon, thousands are displaced as attacks savage people’s homes. Families in Lebanon, especially migrant communities, are facing an unimaginable crisis.
But YOU can support families in need.
Partnered with JRS, marginalised migrant communities in Lebanon have been supported in a number of programmes from education, trainings, counselling, and family assistance in the informal refugee camps across the Bekaa Valley and Baalbek, as well as for urban refugees in Bourj Hammoud, a suburb of Beirut.
In response to the social exclusion migrants in Lebanon face – the Arrupe migrant centre was established neighbouring a Jesuit monastery located in the mountains, about 45 minutes from Beirut. It is also the site of the JRS regional office base and has supported migrant workers for over 40 years.
Emergency food distribution for the displaced
Today, as Lebanon faces Israeli bombs, the support given at the centre has shifted to an emergency response as thousands are wounded and homeless.
It pains JRS that they sometimes must refuse to take people in because there is not enough space and every day, they receive calls from those in need of safe shelter.
It is a desperate situation.
Currently, JRS provide shelter to around 110 people, both migrants and refugees. The two shelters have hosted approximately 160 people in total, some of whom have managed to find accommodation elsewhere.
JRS are working to expand their second site to accommodate more people and continue to provide them with food, water, and all other essentials such as clothing and hygiene kits.
Thankfully as bombings continue, the migrant centre remains unharmed but just across the street from the Migrant Centre lies a neighbourhood called Basta, a Shia area where some of JRS staff live.
It has been hit multiple times by missiles and air strikes, with some of the attacks happening around 600 metres from the shelter, and even closer to where some of the staff reside.
These indiscriminate attacks have torn lives apart.
This Christmas YOU can do something truly amazing by supporting migrant and refugee families experiencing the unimaginable.
From family food baskets which can provide a family food for one month to emergency winter kits for children –
explore our Christmas shop to see how you can give a gift that can save lives.
Visit: www.iji.ie/gifts