Lebanon opens beneficent center for elderly Palestinian refugees

Lebanon has opened a beneficent center in a bid to care for elderly Palestinians refugees in the country, local newspaper The Daily Star reported on Thursday.

With the support of the Humanitarian Aid Office of the European Commission and Caritas Austria, Caritas Lebanon inaugurated on Wednesday the Love and Charity Center for the Support of Elderly Palestinian Refugees in the town of Taalabeya in eastern province, said the report.

Father Louis Samaha, president of Caritas Lebanon, was quoted as saying that the center was meant to assist "each and every" elderly Palestinian here, especially in the absence of minimum social and healthcare insurance.

"It has been decided to open the center here in the Taalabeya region in the Bekaa after we perceived the needs of the elderly for healthcare and social centers in order to reduce the burden of their sufferings and to spark hope in their lives," Samaha said.

A representative for Austrian Caritas, Andrea Steval, said she was happy to have contributed to such "a humanitarian project."

The center is the first in a series of nine centers that will offer moral and healthcare support to elderly Palestinian refugees across Lebanon.

There are about 350,000 Palestinian refugees living in 12 camps in Lebanon.

Source: Xinhua