INTERNATIONAL MISSION TO GIVE PROFILE TO HUMANITARIAN SITUATION OF PALESTINIAN REFUGEES
An International Mission composed of representatives
from Canada, Egypt, the European Union, Japan and
the Netherlands conducted an intensive programme of
visits to five Palestinian camps in Lebanon from May
19-23. They inspected facilities, observed major problems,
met with Lebanese government and UNRWA officials,
and had intensive and wide-ranging discussions with
a large number of Palestinian refugee representatives
and individuals.
The mission was essentially humanitarian in character,
designed to discuss with the Lebanese government the
most appropriate ways of addressing the social economic
and humanitarian challenges pertaining to Palestinian
refugees in Lebanon, and to assess and give profile
to their needs. A further purpose was to continue
the dialogue with the refugees in Lebanon and to hear
their views. Members of the delegation said they wanted
to "serve as a loudspeaker" to the world
about the situation of the Palestinian refugees in
Lebanon, and to give profile to their humanitarian
situation, so as to increase international assistance.
In addition to meeting with Prime Minister Hariri,
the team met with officials from the Lebanese Ministry
of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of the Interior.
It expressed appreciation to the Lebanese government
for consenting to the Mission, which it understood
as a signal of Lebanon's concern for the humanitarian
condition of the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon as
well as a reflection of its desire for continued engagement
with other interested countries on this issue.
The delegation visited five Palestinian refugee
camps, Bourj al Brajneh in Beirut, Ain el Helwe and
Rashidieh in South Lebanon, and Nahr al Bared and
Beddaoui in the Tripoli area. These camps were chosen
in order to enable the delegation to visit a representative
sample of camps and to see a variety of conditions.
The delegation was also briefed by UNRWA and others
on the situation in other camps.
In most of the camps the delegation met with the
popular committees as well as other figures as appropriate
to the situation of the camps. The delegation also
met with a variety of Lebanese and Palestinian experts,
thinkers and intellectuals in Beirut, in order to
gain a broader appreciation of the nature of the challenges
and problems.
In the camps the delegation saw a full range of
both the services already offered and the continued
needs. These ranged from modern UNRWA schools and
health clinics, through ones very much in need of
replacement or rehabilitation, to cases where facilities
or equipment were still urgently needed. The delegation
was deeply troubled by the scenes of open waste water
channels in dark, damp, overcrowded tenements areas,
where some families were living in conditions of 12
and more to a room. It observed that the conditions
of the displaced in and on the edges of the camps
was particularly shocking. It was told that the conditions
of urban life in these cramped communities present
significant health hazards to the refugee population
as well as, in some cases, to neighbouring Lebanese
communities. It visited the UNRWA vocational training
centre at Siblin and was told there and elsewhere
about important needs in the field of education. Unemployment
and the lack of outside income was a major concern
in all camps visited.
At the same time the visiting team was shown and
told about projects which were under construction
or committed by donors, projects through which the
international community was responding to the recommendations
of earlier missions. These included the EU project
for the improvement of water supply and waste water
networks in eight camps ranging from Rashidieh in
the south to Nahr al Bared in the north, a Canadian-sponsored
project to rehabilitate the shelters for 50 displaced
refugee families within Beddaoui camp, and Japan's
commitment respecting secondary schooling in Ain al
Helwe.
While the team noted that projects such as these
were making a difference, they were told that there
is an urgent priority need to bring further remedies
to the socio-economic and humanitarian problems of
the Palestinian refugees. The areas of shelter, hospitalization,
unemployment and education were frequently emphasized
as the most urgent.
In their meetings in the camps, the five representatives
exchanged views with Palestinian refugees not only
on the socio-economic and humanitarian problems in
the camps but also on the fundamentals of the refugee
problem itself. In particular in all their meetings
with Palestinians the delegation was told about the
fundamental importance which the Palestinians attach
to their right of return, and to a political solution
of the refugee question based on UN resolutions. The
team heard a variety of views on the peace process.
For its part, the team reassured the Palestinian
refugees of the continued support of the international
community for a negotiated solution, and of its certainty
that no solution could be a lasting one if it did
not resolve the Palestinian refugee problem. At the
same time the delegation also heard from the Palestinians
that they did not see improvement of their living
conditions in Lebanon as a substitute for their homeland.
The delegation members fully shared this view. The
team also met with UNRWA officials, and it expressed
its appreciation for the full support and cooperation
of UNRWA in arranging the visits to camps. UNRWA officials
accompanied the delegation to the camps, explained
needs and drew attention to problems as well as to
the Agency's plans for addressing problems. The delegation,
while recognizing the serious financial challenges
which UNRWA faces at the present time, remarked upon
the devotion of UNRWA staff to their mandate of service
to the Palestinian refugees, and their determined
efforts to address these problems. They also were
told by the Palestinians about the importance the
refugees themselves attach to the continuation of
UNRWA and its services. Responding to the concerns
expressed on this issue, the delegation emphasized
the wide international consensus in support of UNRWA.
After further reflection and exchanges among the
members of the mission a report will be produced on
their impressions and observations during their intensive
programme. The report will be widely distributed to
UNRWA donor countries, to member countries of the
Refugee Working Group, and to other countries.
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