Up to 200,000 Remain Displaced in Lebanon, Warns UN

Up to 200,000 people could still be displaced in Lebanon nearly three months after the Israel-Hezbollah conflict ended, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday.

"We don't have the precise number of IDPs [internally displaced people] since there has been no formal registration, but we can estimate their number to 150,000 - 200,000," Stephane Jaquemet, UNHCR regional representative in Lebanon, told IRIN.

He added that the job had been made more difficult for relief workers and authorities to gain an exact figure on the number of displaced as many were still living with friends or relatives as opposed to staying in collective centres, reports Reuters.

UNHCR spokesman Simon Russel said many of the displaced had been unable to return because of unexploded ordnance littering the landscape and because of the lack of basic infrastructure, such as water and electricity, in some areas.