HOMS REFUGEE CAMP

Homs camp lies within the town of Homs, 160 kilometres north of Damascus. The camp was established in 1949 on an area of 150,000 square metres, adjacent to al-Baath University. Most of the refugees originally fled from the villages surrounding Haifa and Acre in northern Palestine.

Today, the majority of the refugees are wage labourers, local civil servants or street vendors.

Poor environmental health is a major concern as it affects the quality of life and poses health risks for the refugees. The sewerage system needs to be expanded to cope with the increasing camp population. The schools are old and dilapidated condition, and some have major structural defects. UNRWA's main priority in the camp is to reconstruct the schools to provide improved educational facilities for the refugee children.

In 1996, UNRWA constructed a new health centre with a contribution from the Government of the United States of America. A new community rehabilitation centre for the disabled was built in 1999 in partnership with MOVIMONDO Molisv (an Italian non-governmental organization) with funds from the European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO).

FACTS AND FIGURES

• On 30 June 2002, there were 13,825 registered refugees.
• UNRWA runs six schools in the camp: four elementary (ages 6-12) - two for boys (859 pupils) and two for girls (873 pupils); and two preparatory (ages 13-15) - one for boys (393 pupils) and one for girls (410 pupils).
• Between January-June 2002, there were 28,839 patient visits to the UNRWA health centre.
• 579 families ( 1,195 refugees) are registered as special hardship cases (SHCs).
• Over the past four years, UNRWA has assisted seventeen of the poorest refugee families with the rehabilitation of their shelters.

Figures as of 30 June 2002