BEIRUT – Hundreds of Syrian refugees fled their makeshift camp in northern Lebanon after their tents were set on fire as fighting broke out between local youth and camp residents, aid officials said Sunday.
The Lebanese state government’s national news agency said at least three people were injured in the December 26 incident in the Minh area of the coastal city of Tripoli.
Lebanon has more than a million Syrian refugees who fled the conflict in 2011, but many Syrians have long been a major source of migrant workers and cheap labor for the construction and agriculture sectors.
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Khalid Kabra, a spokesman for the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), said about 400 refugees who had fled had moved to other closed camps or found temporary shelter in empty schools and hotels.
The country has seen rising tensions between refugees and residents in recent years as humanitarian activists and politicians say both racism and anger have been fueled by the financial crisis perpetrated by Lebanese, who have blamed refugees for taking their jobs.
