Refugee crisis: Video from Bekaa Valley shows Syrians struggling to survive snow storms in Lebanon camps

The video diary of an aid worker in Lebanon has shown in intimate detail the trials of Syrian refugees living in freezing temperatures as snow storms buffeted their Bekaa Valley camps in January.

The UN has registered 371,809 refugees living in the camps in the governorate as of January. The valley has received the highest numbers of refugees in Lebanon, which has itself taken just under one-and-a-half million refugees since the start of the Syrian civil war.

As the temperatures plummeted below freezing, a World Vision activist documented the conditions faced by refugees in the Bekaa Valley. Sleeping in a tent alongside the refugees he said within the first 20 minutes of a blizzard his tent was heavy with snow. After spending one night sleeping in the Bekaa camp his fingers were numb with cold.

The video shows Syrian families putting up what little defences they can and bolstering their makeshift structures with wood to strengthen them under the weight of the snow.

Children no older than 10 explain that they spend the nights awake because of the cold and without blankets to warm themselves. Their utmost worry is that the tents will break with the combination of snow and high winds.