Number of displaced people officially registered in shelters reached 70,100: Mawlawi

BEIRUT — Caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said on Thursday that the number of displaced people officially registered in shelters has reached 70,100 in 533 different centers. 

Following Israel's intense offensive on Lebanon nationwide on Monday, tens of thousands of people fled areas in the South, Bekaa and Beirut's southern suburbs to take shelter in schools turned into displaced centers.

"District governors are present with the Lebanese in all regions and are the ones taking care of the shelters," Mawlawi said following a meeting held at his office in the ministry to coordinate with governors according to local media website El-Nashra.

"We are discussing the logistical needs of the governorates, shelter centers and schools,” he said, noting that ‘the Ministry of Education is providing schools to become safe shelter centers."

Mawlawi also said that there are "shortages due to the large number of displaced people, and this issue is being organized accordingly.” 

On sheltering Syrian refugees, he said "The response is for Lebanese who are displaced. There are shelters in the Bekaa dedicated to Syrians.”

Mawlawi has become known for his strict anti-Syrian refugee rhetoric after launching a "security operation" last spring to detain undocumented Syrian refugees, closing down dozens of businesses and deporting hundreds of refugees.

”Around 13,500 Syrians left Lebanon through General Security centers within three days, returning to Syria. We can assume they are able to return to their country," he added.

More than 600 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes that mainly targeted the Bekaa, Beirut's southern suburbs and southern Lebanon in the past few days.