Caritas has helped almost 1 million people affected by the crises in Syria, Gaza and Iraq, but with turmoil deepening, needs are growing while resources shrink.
Caritas Lebanon is boosting its activities to continue supporting Syrian refugees. It will also help vulnerable Lebanese families and Iraqi Christians who have fled persecution.
These portraits show the tragedy of Syria’s civil war through the eyes of its children, now living in Lebanon as refugees.
Syrians continue to flee the war in their country, crossing the border to Lebanon and other neighbouring countries. Even if it is to face a life of uncertainty as a refugee, they say they have no choice because they have to save their children.
Lebanon is home to a million Syrian refugees, more than any other nation. And Bekaa is home to 400,000 of those, more than anywhere else in the country.
The law in Syria sets the minimum age of marriage at 17 for boys and 16 for girls. However, religious leaders are allowed to approve informal marriages at the age of 13 for girls and 16 for boys.
There are over a million of Syrian refugees living in Lebanon. They express their hopes for peace as they mark World Refugee Day.
Message by Msgr Antoine Audo, president of Caritas Syria: "...We ask that fighting ceases and that the arms trade which feeds the war in Syria is stopped. Help Syria refind the path to reconciliation and peace through the support of the international community..."
On World Refugee Day, Caritas urges nations around the world to give Syrian refugees a humanitarian entry visa to help guarantee their safety and well-being as they flee the war in their country.
"My thoughts are also for the charity work performed by Church institutions like Caritas Jordan and others, who, by caring for the needy without distinction of religion, ethnicity or ideology, have shown the splendor of the charitable face of the merciful Jesus.," said Pope Francis on Holy Land pilgrimmage.