MSF: People are fleeing Lebanon ‘with nothing’
Itta Helland-Hansen, project coordinator at Doctors Without Borders (MSF), says more than one million people in Lebanon have had to flee without any possessions.
“That means they lack clothing and other basic items, such as chronic medication, or prescriptions … [and are] in need of mattresses, blankets, hygiene items, and of course, food and water,” she told Al Jazeera from Beirut.
Helland-Hansen warned that some people had moved four times now and that in addition to any physical ailments, many were struggling with mental health issues.
“This has a lasting impact, also mentally or psychologically,” she said.
“We hear people in the shelters mentioning that, for instance, just the sound of drones – which I can hear right now outside the window here as well – it’s like a chronic stressor.”
She said her group, MSF, had carried out “thousands of consultations in all the areas or in many areas of the country over the last weeks, along with also mental health care and this distribution of items”.
This was done despite the fact that the Lebanese authorities had been greatly impacted in their already limited ability to help.
“We continue to do assessments to see how it’s going in different shelters around and assess what the needs are,” Helland-Hansen said.
