UN warns of widening displacement as Middle East conflict deepens

GENEVA, March 6 — The United Nations refugee agency said on Friday that nearly 100,000 people have been displaced inside Lebanon and tens of thousands of Syrian refugees there have fled back across the border to Syria, warning that the escalating conflict linked to hostilities between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah has created a “major humanitarian emergency” across the region.

The warning came as fighting intensified following a U.S.-Israeli air campaign against Iran that began on Feb. 28, prompting Israeli evacuation orders across southern Lebanon and parts of Beirut. The developments have triggered significant population movements both within Lebanon and across its borders, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).Mass displacement across LebanonAyaki Ito, the UNHCR’s Director of Emergency and Programme Support, said the agency had formally classified the unfolding situation as a major humanitarian emergency requiring urgent international response.“UNHCR has declared the escalating crisis in the Middle East as a major humanitarian emergency requiring an immediate response across the region and into Southeast Asia,” Ito told a press briefing in Geneva.According to UNHCR estimates, nearly 100,000 people have been displaced inside Lebanon as Israeli evacuation orders and ongoing hostilities forced residents to leave their homes. Tens of thousands of Syrian refugees who had previously sought safety in Lebanon have also returned across the border into Syria amid growing insecurity.The agency said the pace and scale of displacement remained fluid and warned that available figures were likely an underestimate because population movements were continuing and many families had not yet been formally registered.

Displacement reported inside IranUNHCR officials also reported early signs of internal displacement in Iran linked to the same conflict dynamics.Ito said roughly 100,000 people had already been displaced inside Iran in the first days of the conflict. UNHCR staff operating in the country have been receiving hundreds of calls each day from people seeking assistance or information on humanitarian support.The agency did not provide details on the precise locations of displacement but said the scale of requests for help indicated that the humanitarian impact of the conflict was expanding rapidly.UN calls for urgent responseUNHCR said the emergency classification allows it to mobilize additional resources, staff and operational capacity to respond to the growing humanitarian needs.Officials warned that the crisis could spread beyond the immediate conflict zone as displacement pressures increase across neighbouring countries already hosting large refugee populations.The agency urged international donors and humanitarian partners to prepare for a sustained response as the conflict continues to drive population movements across the Middle East.