KHAN ESHIEH REFUGEE CAMP

Khan Eshieh camp is situated beside the village of Khan Eshieh, 27 kilometres south of Damascus. The village historically served as an overnight shelter for trade caravans on the road between Damascus and the southwest. The old Khan itself provided shelter for the first refugees from Palestine in 1948. The camp was established in 1949 on an area of 690,000 square metres. In addition to UNRWA services, there is a private hospital and a government-run secondary school.

The majority of the refugees are well educated, and many work as teachers or civil servants. Others are employed as farm workers on Syrian-owned lands.

Lack of proper sanitation facilities are the most pressing problems in the camp. Wells, dug without official permission, have dried up due to lack of rain and constant over-exploitation of the ground water. Many refugees now buy water from mobile tankers operating in the area, but the water is not always safe for human consumption. The camp also lacks a sewerage system and shelters only have pit latrines. The proximity of pit latrines to water wells pose a major health hazard for camp residents as well as for neighbouring villages.

UNRWA's main priority in the camp is to install proper sewerage and water networks.

In 2000, UNRWA was able to conduct a feasibility study for the construction of sewerage and water networks with a contribution from the Government of Switzerland.

In 2001, the Syrian Government completed a project to protect the Awaj river by casing the river basin. This now prevents the discharging sewage from the camp into the river. Since no alternative discharging system was provided for, it resulted in a back-flow of sewage to a considerable part of the camp, posing immediate health risks to the residents. To address the problem and as an emergency measure, the General Authority for Palestine Arab refugees (GAPAR), with the assistance of UNRWA, constructed a conveyor line along the length of the Awag river, which borders the camp. The line collects the sewage and deposits it into a single large pit dug at the edge of the camp, from where it gets discharged into the nearest municipal waste-disposal network. The project represents one componenet of a larger project to install a sewerage system in Khan Eshieh camp. UNRWA and the Damascus Countryside Water and Wastewater Authority have agreed to link a Khan Eshieh camp sewerage system to that of the nerby village of Artouz. Agreement for financing a new water and sewage system between UNRWA, the Syrian Government and the European Commission in the amount of 8 million Euroes has been reached. The funding will also provide for a new water system in nearby Khan Dannoun camp.

FACTS AND FIGURES

• On 30 June 2002, there were 15,731 registered refugees.
• UNRWA runs six schools in the camp: four elementary (ages 6-12) - two for boys (1036 pupils) and two for girls (993 pupils); and two preparatory (ages 13-15) - one for boys (376 pupils) and one for girls (431 pupils).
• Between January-June 2002, there were 17935 patient consultations at the UNRWA health centre.
• 334 families (1,067 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