Inside Story

Will the Beirut explosion cause a humanitarian disaster?

The enormous explosion has left hundreds of thousands of people homeless and hungry in the Lebanese capital.

Lebanon was in a dire state even before the enormous explosion which wrecked much of the capital, Beirut, on Tuesday.

The government is bankrupt, the currency is almost worthless and millions of Lebanese are jobless. 

The explosion made things worse by destroying the main port for a nation heavily reliant on food imports.

Some 300,000 people made homeless in Beirut have received little help from the government. Lebanon is also home to 1.5 million Syrian refugees.

How will aid organisations deal with the challenge?

Presenter: Mohammed Jamjoom

Guests:

Violet Speek-Warnery – Deputy Lebanon representative for UNICEF

Carlo Gherardi – Lebanon director, Norwegian Refugee Council

Basma Tabaja – Deputy head of delegation, International Commitee of the Red Cross, Lebanon