BEIRUT: Palestinian refugees displaced by the crisis in Syria held a sit-in Monday at the Beddawi refugee camp in north Lebanon to protest shortages in assistance.

The demonstrators rallied outside the offices of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in response to a call from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP).

They urged UNRWA to put in place an emergency plan to address their situation.

DFLP official Atef Khalil said the needs of the Palestinian refugees displaced by the crisis in Lebanon’s neighbor needed to be addressed and not politicized.

He also demanded that Palestinians not be discriminated against and receive the same treatment that Syrian refugees were receiving.

He also slammed the UNRWA, blaming the refugee agency for the refugees’ suffering, and called on the international organization to provide the necessary assistance.

The number of Palestinian refugees who have fled to Lebanon as a result of events in Syria exceeds 13,000, according to figures from Lebanon’s General Security.

The Palestinian refugees have faced increasingly hard living conditions in the country.

UNRWA has voiced its concerns over the lack of resources to provide refugees with the needed help.

Meanwhile, the Islamic Welfare Association (ISWA) in Lebanon, in cooperation with the International Islamic Charitable Organization – Kuwait, offered Monday free medical examinations to Syrian refugees in south Lebanon, the NNA reported.

The medical services were provided to infants, children and adults, the state-run agency said.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said in its latest report on the situation of the displaced that it is providing services to some 212,000 Syrian refugees, 147,000 of which are official registered with the agency.