Lebanon in a 'humanitarian crisis': The demand for aid and assistance is 'enormous'

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00:00Well, we can cross now live to Beirut to speak to Cyril Basel of the Humanitarian Agency

00:05Care International.

00:06Mr. Basel, thanks so much for your time.

00:09Perhaps we could start with getting an idea of what is the latest you're hearing about

00:13the situation in Beirut.

00:14We understand that there's been a number of bombardments once again to the south of the

00:19Lebanese capital.

00:21Yes, exactly.

00:23So last evening was a very scary night.

00:27I think all of us living in Beirut and across Lebanon got close to no sleep because of the

00:34sounds of the bombardments and because of the anxiety and the fear of any one of us

00:39losing their lives.

00:41And so it was a very difficult night.

00:43And as CARE, we're looking to continue to support the communities that we work with

00:49among our services, the psychological aid.

00:53And so we will continue to offer that because it is a huge need.

00:56Indeed, as you say, the ongoing stress of it and, you know, people being told to evacuate.

01:02But there isn't really anywhere to go, is there?

01:05The shelters are overcrowded.

01:07And so we have reached a point where there are more than one million people who have

01:12left their homes.

01:14There are more than 200,000 people in shelters.

01:17But at the same time, you can imagine that the 800,000 left are walking in the street,

01:23not knowing where to go, trying to find shelter.

01:26It has been raining for the last two days.

01:28And so people have been sleeping in the street under the rain.

01:31And when I say people, I mean children, pregnant women, the elderly, I mean, entire families

01:37just completely in despair.

01:40And when it comes to even the logistics, like clean water, electricity, food, where do you

01:46think stand?

01:49This is a huge escalation that has started since last Monday.

01:53And so CARE, for instance, has been taking its role with other international organization

01:58in close coordination with the government to distribute hot meals, to distribute hygiene

02:03kits and to distribute all sorts of basic needs.

02:06But the demand remains huge.

02:08And so we are in a humanitarian crisis.

02:11The demand is absolutely enormous.

02:14And so the more support we can get, the more people can mobilize, the better we can serve

02:19our communities.

02:20Now, you said up to a million people displaced.

02:22So is that a million people not being able to go to work, kids not being able to go to

02:26school?

02:27More or less, the figures are changing every other minute.

02:32For the worse, they are getting more dramatic.

02:34And so, as you said, the school year has started, but there are no kids in schools.

02:41Many people need to continue their lives, need to go to work with all those limitations.

02:46And a country that has been going through a multifaceted crisis for the last five years

02:51makes everyone more vulnerable at all levels.

02:54And I believe tens of thousands of people are actually getting out of Lebanon and crossing

02:58over the border into Syria, which isn't exactly a safe zone.

03:03I think these are times where people are looking for any solution that works for them.

03:09And CARE as a humanitarian organization, our focus is really to focus on working with the

03:15internally displaced people, making sure that we can mobilize as much support and close

03:21coordination with the other stakeholders.

03:23Now, we have seen the situation in Gaza get increasingly worse over the last year.

03:28What started there as a limited incursion by Israeli forces is still going on.

03:33Do you fear the same for Lebanon?

03:36In terms of Lebanon, I think we really commit to looking to the realities on the ground.

03:43As a humanitarian organization, our focus is always on neutrality.

03:48And so our focus is on the internally displaced people and helping the people in Lebanon.

03:53Because as you said earlier, there are hundreds of thousands of people who are leaving their

03:57houses overnight or in a split of a second in the Bekaa in South Lebanon or in the Beirut suburbs.

04:03You're looking for shelter.

04:05So our focus remains on working with them.

04:07OK.

04:08Cyril Basile, hoping you get some rest soon.

04:11But thanks indeed for your time.

04:13Cyril Basile of Care International, based in Beirut, explaining how little sleep people

04:17are currently getting due to those ongoing bombardments.

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