LEBANON REFUGEE CAMP PROFILES

[click on each camp name on the map for a profile of the camp]

Of the original 16 official camps in Lebanon, three were destroyed during the years of conflict and were never rebuilt or replaced: Nabatieh camp in south Lebanon, and Dikwaneh and Jisr el-Basha camps in the Beirut area. Most of the displaced refugees in Lebanon, approximately 6,000 families, are originally from these three camps. A fourth camp, Gouraud in Baalbeck, was evacuated many years ago and its inhabitants were transferred to Rashidieh camp in the Tyre area.

In mid-2007 Approximately 27,000 Palestine refugees were displaced from Nahr el-Bared camp (NBC) and its adjacent areas in northern Lebanon in mid-2007, as a result of the conflict between the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and the extremist Fatah Al-Islam group. The camp was pounded with heavy artillery and aerial bombardments during the three month siege and an estimated 95% of all buildings and infrastructure were either destroyed or damaged beyond repair. The first stages of a major reconstruction and recovery effort – to rebuild the camp and allow displaced refugees to return to their homes – are now underway.

Today, all 12 official refugee camps in the Lebanon Field suffer from serious problems - no proper infrastructure, overcrowding, poverty and unemployment. The Lebanon Field has the highest percentage of Palestine refugees who are living in abject poverty and who are registered with the Agency's "special hardship" programme.

The number of Palestine refugees registered with UNRWA in Lebanon is currently 422,188, or an estimated 10 per cent of the population of Lebanon, a small country which is now quite densely populated.

Palestine refugees in Lebanon face specific problems. They do not have social and civil rights, and have very limited access to the government's public health or educational facilities and no access to public social services. The majority rely entirely on UNRWA as the sole provider of education, health and relief and social services. Considered as foreigners, Palestine refugees are prohibited by law from working in more than 70 trades and professions. This has led to a very high rate of unemployment amongst the refugee population.

Popular committees in the camps representing the refugees regularly discuss these problems with the Lebanese Government or with UNRWA officials, and they call for better living conditions for the refugees.

FACTS AND FIGURES

• Number of primary health care facilities: 30
• Number of schools: 81
• Student enrolment: 34,516
• Annual medical and dental patient visits: 1,014,599
• Refugees registered with UNRWA’s "special hardship" programme: 48,506
• Number of community rehabilitation centres: 1
• Number of vocational and technical training centres (VTTC): 2
• Vocational and technical training places: 1,025
• Number of women’s programme centres: 9
• Number of microfinance and microenterprise loans awarded: N/A
• Cumulative value of loans awarded: N/A