UNHCR Report Says Nearly 85,200 Syrians Fled Crackdown to Lebanon

The number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon has surged into more than 85,200, receiving aid through the efforts exerted by the Lebanese state and its U.N. and non-governmental organization partners, a weekly report issued by the United Nations High Commissioner for refugees said.

“Nearly 60,089 are currently registered at the UNHCR in addition to 25,150 refugees who have contacted the organization to be registered,” the statement said.

According to to the report, there are 33,549 people registered in northern Lebanon, 24,905 in the Bekaa, and 1,635 in Beirut.

An estimate of 1,000 people have crossed last week into the northeastern border town of Wadi Khaled from Damascus, Homs and Aleppo.

The U.N. Agency expects the current tally of Syrian refugees in Lebanon to leap to 120,000 by the end of 2012.

The bloodshed in neighboring country, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, has so far killed more than 31,000 people since mid-March 2011.