One of the UN Secretary-General’s most prominent stops during the second day of his visit to crisis-hit Lebanon was the port of Beirut, where he laid a wreath at the memorial for the victims of the explosion there which took the lives of more than 200 people.

The extent of the devastation has drawn comparisons within Lebanon, to the horrors endured by the residents of Hiroshima in 1945, after one of the two atomic bombs dropped on Japan at the end of World War Two, raised the Japanese city to the ground, killing tens of thousands. Locals refer to the infamous day on August 4, 2020, as “Beirut-shima”.

In his remarks in the Lebanese capital to journalists, the Secretary-General spoke about his visit to the Harbor, saying it was a very emotional moment. “The suffering of the people, first of all, those that perished, their families, the wounded, the dramatic impact in the lives of so many people is something that of course generates very deep solidarity”.

On the other hand, he noted that he had been receiving messages from many victims demanding “the need for truth to be established, for the need for an independent investigation, that is able to produce that truth.”

He said he fully understands their concerns and hoped that the country’s institutions will be able to guarantee that the truth will come to light.

"The Palestinian refugee has fears that he will be forgotten, and that he will be marginalized”, he added.

For him, this visit by the UN chief’s visit is “an explicit recognition that this refugee still exists, and that the United Nations considers him, that his problem still exists.

“Therefore, we must act. All of us have to find a solution to this problem, and his coming to this school and his attendance and meeting with these students is also a message in the same context, and there is no doubt that this will be an opportunity for them to express what they feel, their problems, and their concerns”.

At the UNRWA-run Lydda school, Guterres met among others, parents and children enrolled in the youth parliamentarian program who shared their daily concerns and problems as Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.

Young Wissam said that some parents were forced to take their children out of school because they could not afford the bus fare to get to the classroom, due to the current crisis.

As for Jamal, a young Palestinian refugee who was displaced from Syria due to the ongoing war, he said that "often we sleep with empty stomachs because his parents could not provide for the family”.

Zeina pointed out the importance of the right to education for Palestine refugees, saying that education "is their only hope to change their lives." She hoped that the Secretary-General would continue to protect this right.

Zeina said she wanted to become an astronaut, but her family could not possibly afford that. (ILKHA)