BEIRUT, April 26 (Xinhua) -- Dalal Abu Nawfal, a Syrian refugee in her 50's from Aleppo, was busy washing her three children's clothes as a gift of the holy month of Ramadan after the COVID-19 spread prevented them from buying a new one.
Abu Nawfal, who was wearing a mask made by herself, told Xinhua that COVID-19 turned the happiness of her and her kids into misery.
"Our only concern is to adhere to the quarantine properly to prevent the virus from attacking our camps. We are no longer concerned about securing our basic food needs for Ramadan but only to overcome this unexpected crisis," she said.
Salam Abu Al-Majd, a refugee from Idlib who was making masks for her family by using old clothes, told Xinhua that the prevention mask is the best gift during this holy month, after the increase in its price amid low availability of masks in pharmacies.
Syrian refugees residing in Lebanon have gone through very tough time ever since their arrival to the country following the eruption of the civil war in Syria.
Most of the Syrian refugees who flew to Lebanon live in dispersed tents all over the country without enough financial support to make it through the month or even to secure means for heating their tents in the cold and stormy winter weather of Lebanon.
Syrian refugees have previously received support from several countries in addition to the United Nations Higher Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
However, this year's Ramadan, with the outbreak of COVID-19, worsened refugees' dire living conditions.
"This is the most difficult Ramadan since we flew from Syria to Lebanon," Maher Abu Jumaili, a refugee from Idlib, told Xinhua.
Abu Jumaili said that Ramadan used to be a happy occasion that gathers people in the camps with love while allowing them to be better acquainted with each other.
"This year, we do not even have the humble luxury to forget our misery," he said.
Meanwhile, Akram al-Amiri, a displaced from Aleppo, said he was fired from his work at a chicken farm.
"We feel, like all other refugees, that this is the worst Ramadan because of the current economic crisis and weakening of the Lebanese pound in parallel to the tremendous increase in prices and absence of support by international organizations," he said.
Lebanon has been facing a very difficult economic and financial crisis over the shortage in U.S. dollars which increased demand on the currency and weakened the Lebanese pounds, causing difficulties for people all over the country to afford purchasing their basic food needs.
"We have used all of our food stocks and savings during our quarantine because of the lack in support by international organizations," Samira Al-Subaihi, another Syrian refugee, told Xinhua.
Coinciding with the holy month of Ramadan, the UNHCR launched on April 23 a global fundraising campaign called "Every Gift Counts" to help raise funds for the most vulnerable refugees.
The campaign aims to raise funds, through donations including Zakat and Sadaqah, to help provide lifesaving support such as shelter, food, clean water and monthly cash assistance, to the most vulnerable refugee.
According to the UNHCR, this is the agency's second global Ramadan campaign which focuses on the small but incredible changes that individuals can bring to refugee families during this holy month. Enditem
