In this picture taken on June 13, 2023, Syrian children play between tents at a refugee camp in Saadnayel in eastern Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. (Credit: Anwar Amro/AFP)
BEIRUT — The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said Wednesday it will end coverage for hospitalization costs of registered Syrian refugees in Lebanon by the end of 2025, citing significant funding cuts.
Spokespeople from the Health Ministry and UNHCR both confirmed with L'Orient Today the news which was first reported by LBCI.
The agency "will be forced to end [its] support for the costs of hospitalization of refugees in Lebanon by the end of 2025," the statement reads. The agency explained the decision was the result of "significant funding cuts." UNHCR is one of the many U.N. agencies affected by the U.S. President Donald Trump's administration freeze on foreign funding.
"It pains us that we have to take these difficult decisions," the UNHCR spokesperson said. "But in the absence of sustained, adequate funding, we have no choice, as we cannot spend resources that we do not have."
"We know this will put additional pressure on an already overstretched health system, as well as on the health and well-being of vulnerable refugees across the country," they added.
UNHCR will continue working with the Health Ministry "to advocate for additional resources and explore alternative solutions where possible."
Already in May 2024, UNHCR had announced a sharp reduction in its spending on medical coverage, limiting support to emergency hospitalizations where "an immediate risk to life" was established. The move was attributed to a decline in international funding.
The agency said the situation had since worsened. "In April 2025, UNHCR is only 20 percent funded, and the outlook for 2026 is already very bleak," it warned, describing the drop in funding as "of an unexpected magnitude and speed."
Despite the scale of the cuts, UNHCR said it "remains faithful to its commitment to stay and act in Lebanon."
'Humanitarian responsibilities'
A UNHCR delegation informed Health Minister Rakan Nasreddine earlier on Wednesday that healthcare coverage for the approximately 700,000 registered Syrian refugees living in Lebanon would cease starting next November, according to the LBCI report.
The delegation, headed by the office representative in Lebanon, Ivo Freijsin, explained that the decision, which includes cutting support for various primary healthcare centers, was the result of a drying up of funding from donor countries.
Nassereddine reportedly responded by emphasizing the necessity for the international community not to neglect its humanitarian responsibilities, LBCI states.
"Less than three months ago, Lebanon witnessed a new wave of displacement, which keeps the number of refugees very high relative to Lebanon’s size and the capacity of its health system to bear additional major burdens," Nasreddine is cited as saying.
The health minister said that UNHCR has an important role in Lebanon, in collaboration with key international partners, in finding ways to secure healthcare coverage for refugees and support the health services provided to them in primary care centers.
The majority of the estimated 1.5 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon fled during the 13-year Civil War that resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of people. Since the ouster of dictator Bashar al-Assad in December by a coalition of Islamist-led opposition forces, hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees have returned home, with about 400,000 of them coming from neighboring countries, including Lebanon.
But Syria is still affected by outbursts of revenge-fueled sectarian violence, which have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of civilians, and the country, while recently relieved of its heavy U.S. sanctions, still struggles from a dilapidated economy.