As Storm Norma batters Lebanon, spare a thought for the 1.5 million Syrian refugees here. Aid groups are trying to persuade people to leave tents that are now under water -- but many are resisting, fearing the structures will be demolished before they return. /1
Families who left houses, jobs and lives in Syria are now stuck in tin-roofed tents filling up with rainwater across Lebanon. The Lebanese Red Cross said that yesterday alone it had to rescue 500 people. dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-N… /2
Although conditions are desperate, the problem is not new. In fact, it happens every year, driving refugees deeper into cycles of impoverishment as international funding dries up and Lebanese government increases pressure on them to go home. /3
Let’s breakdown situation into example of a single family, interviewed by colleague @suzanHaidamous today. A 50yr old couple from Yabroud, Syria, living for 5yrs with 3 adult children & their young kids in a tent in Arsal. They described the cold as ‘agony’. No one had slept. /4 
Instead of sleeping, the mother Hiam said, whole family spent the night trying to wring out their clothes & sweep near-freezing water away from sodden mattresses & out of the tent. But the heavens stayed open, it always flowed back in. “We would just get soaked again.” /5
Hiam’s family is surviving on one meal of potatoes or bread each day. Technically they have UN food vouchers with which to purchase some supplies, but they would have to wade through ice cold water to get there. “Financially, psychologically, we’ve been smashed,” she said. /6
Conditions were already uniquely bad for Syrian refugees in Lebanese border town of Arsal. For security reasons, area is ringed w checkpoints. Refugees without papers - a common occurrence - cannot move between them, & so in many cases can't earn a living either. /7
So after all this, why does Hiam not just take her family back to Syria? Her fears are common & well-founded. "My house is destroyed, my son could be conscripted. We do not trust he would not be detained." Here's a snapshot of what that could mean: washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/… /8
For everyone asking, there are some fantastic aid groups doing what they can to help Syrian refugees in camps that find themselves underwater or under snow through this terrible storm. More here: facebook.com/558248524/post… /9
