Hundreds of Syrian refugees have fled their makeshift camp in north Lebanon after their tents were set alight when fighting broke out between local youths and camp residents.
At least three people were wounded in the clash on Saturday in the Miniyeh region near the coastal city of Tripoli, after which youths set fire to the camp, Lebanon’s state-owned National News Agency said.
Tensions between refugees and residents have risen in Lebanon in recent years. Humanitarian workers and politicians say they have been fuelled by racism and the anger of people who blame refugees for taking their jobs during a financial crisis.
Lebanon has received more than a million Syrian refugees since the start of the country’s civil war in 2011. They have become a significant source of cheap labour for Lebanon’s construction and agriculture sectors.
Damascus urged Lebanon’s judicial authorities and security forces to “shoulder their responsibility” to ensure that its nationals were protected. “Syria regrets the fire … that terrified its inhabitants and deprived them of a shelter,” the Syrian foreign ministry said in a statement on state media.
Khaled Kabarra, a spokesman for the UN refugee agency, said the nearly 400 residents who fled the camp went to other enclosed encampments or found temporary shelter in vacant schools and hotels.
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