Mariam Khaowleh doused herself in gasoline and set herself on fire outside of Tripoli’s United Nations Refugee Agency Centre (UNHCR) after not receiving the aid she said she needed, reports CNN.
Khaowleh, her husband and her four children fled their home in Homs, Syria two years ago. The family has been living in Lebanon as refugees ever since.
Three of the Khaowleh children live with a blood disease which makes digesting certain foods difficult and can result in hemolytic anemia. About six months ago, the UNHCR and the World Food Program narrowed their aid campaigns, which cut any aid the Khaowleh’s received.
Khaowleh made multiple visits to the UNHCR centre, and tried to appeal her family’s exclusion of the program. Her family relied on the aid to feed themselves.
According to an eyewitness at her latest visit, Khaowleh doused herself in gasoline and went up in flames.
The UNHCR say they are looking into the situation. They say the family was offered resettlement into communal housing, which they refused due to fear of their daughters safety. The UNHCR is also following up on re-including the family in the good program and covering all of Khaowleh’s medical fees.
The UN says the current number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon is past one million.
(Featured image courtesy of CNN).
