School Support for Refugee Children in Lebanon

School Support for Refugee Children in Lebanon

(ANS – Beirut, Lebanon – November 6, 2024) – In 2024, Lebanon was showing timid signs of reviving its economy after the previous 4 years of severe economic crisis, which had brought disastrous consequences for human rights and forced more than 80% of the population into poverty. On October 1, however, the escalation of the war in the Middle East also involved Lebanon. The intensification of violence generated an unprecedented humanitarian emergency, with thousands of deaths and injuries and about 1.2 million people having to leave their homes in a hurry to seek a safe haven.

Hundreds of homes and public infrastructure have been destroyed, further aggravating the suffering of the civilian population. War and the closure of all schools continue to threaten the lives and futures of millions of children.

Marginalized communities, including refugees, have suffered heavily from the consequences of the economic crisis in recent years, and now their lives are turned upside down again by yet another conflict. In recent years, it is estimated that about 1.8 million Iraqis and 1.5 million Syrians have left their homes and their country, seeking refuge in neighboring countries, including Lebanon. A very limited number of displaced people require refugee status; many consider Lebanon only a place of transit, since the country has never signed the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees, nor its 1967 protocol.

In this tragic situation, the Salesians, who have been in the country since 1952, have asked for help to support the activities of their Angels of Peace school, attended by 250 Iraqi and Syrian refugee children between the ages of 6 and 15. All schools in the country have been closed for security reasons, including the Salesian school located on the outskirts of Beirut, where most of the refugee and asylum seeker community lives. For now teachers are able to reach it and use the equipment and stable internet connection to manage distance classes with students.

Since 2015, the Angels of Peace school has been providing education to refugee children, as well as a psycho-social support program carried out by psychotherapists and speech therapists, to try to work on the difficulties arising from being victims of war and displacement.

Refugee children in Lebanon face several obstacles to accessing education. Until 2023, they could attend school only in the afternoon, exposed to risks and dangers: this has caused an increase in school dropouts. After the teachers’ strikes against the strong devaluation of their salaries, the afternoon shifts were suspended.

Refugee children are de facto excluded from the formal school system. The school of the Angels of Peace is the only possibility for them  to access quality education. The Salesians intend to carry out their activities, and in this tragic moment they need help to cover the costs of buying computers, tablets, and internet connection for those refugee families who do not have them. Their goal, in fact, is to continue to guarantee lessons to 250 vulnerable children, for whom the link, including digital, with school means not only preserving the path of study and the possibilities of the future, but also having moments of sharing with their classmates and having a minimum of respite from the constant fear of war.

For more information, visit: www.missionidonbosco.org (Turin).