M'sia first nation to provide humanitarian aide to refugees in Lebanese village

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia is the first country to provide humanitarian assistance to Syrian refugees in Shebaa village, located some 150 km from Beirut deep in the mountainous region of southeast Lebanon.
In disclosing this, Head of Social Development Centre in Shebaa, Mohammad al-Saadi, Malaysia is the first country that had distributed humanitarian assistance to the refugees in that village which is close to the Syrian border and Israeli occupied Shebaa farms.
The Malaysian Ambassador to Lebanon, Bala Chandran Tharman and his wife distributed 1,000 packets of winter clothing to the refugee children and women
on Feb 11, 2016.
The packages contained pullovers, pants, scarf, jackets, socks, and blankets worth US$28,500 (RM 125,682.15).
Due to limited supplies in the area, the embassy had to procure the clothing in the town of Tyre in southwest Lebanon and have them transported through the rugged mountain roads to Shebaa village in the southeast some 100 km away.
Foreign Affairs Ministry said: "Given the severe winter, it is important to ensure Malaysia’s assistance reach those most vulnerable, especially the children and women, even if they are in remote areas, so that our contributions make a difference in the lives of the Syrian refugees."
The humanitarian assistance in Shebaa village is one of the many currently being undertaken by the Embassy in several villages and towns along the Lebanon-Syria border in the north and east of the country.
Datin Paduka Seri Rosmah Mansor, wife of the Prime Minister of Malaysia, had initiated Malaysia’s humanitarian assistance to the Syrian refugees in Lebanon, in her capacity as Patron of the Global Children’s Wellbeing Fund (GCWF) and as President of the Welfare Association of Minister’s Wives (BAKTI) Malaysia.
The GCWF and BAKTI Malaysia contributed US$300,000 and US$60,000, respectively, for distribution to the Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
Malaysia’s humanitarian assistance to Lebanon is part of a larger contribution of US$600,000 (RM 2.7 million) by the GCWF and BAKTI Malaysia for Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan.
The Embassy is hopeful that the contributions would help alleviate the suffering and hardship of the refugees, particularly in facing the current winter.