QABR ESSIT REFUGEE CAMP

Qabr Essit camp is situated near the town of Zeinab (15 kilometres from Damascus) and is better known as Sayyeda Zeinab, after the granddaughter of the Prophet Mohammad. Her tomb in the town, which is a site of pilgrimage, is located at a magnificent mosque decorated with Islamic art and ornamentation.

Qabr Essit was one of the emergency camps established in 1967-68 on an area of 23,000 square metres. The inhabitants were displaced during the 1967 Arab-Israeli conflict from the Quneitra Governorate (Golan), and many sought refuge for the second time in their lives, having originally fled to the Golan Heights in 1948 from nearby villages in northern Palestine.

Most of the refugees work as wage labourers or street vendors.

Poor sanitation is a major problem in the camp, and there is a relatively high incidence of illnesses associated with poor environmental health conditions. The sewerage system is antiquated and requires upgrading to cope with the demands of an increasing refugee population.

There is also a high incidence of inherited diseases such as thalassaemia (sickle-cell anaemia), which is difficult to combat in a poor community where marriage between first cousins is common. Marrying outside the extended family (exogamous marriage) is unaffordable for many.

In 2002, Japan provided UNRWA with US$ 68,000 in funding to build a multi-purpose community centre. The donation, from the Grassroots Fund, will cover the cost of replacing the sanitation and social workers’ crumbling old premises with a well-equipped two-storey building housing a kindergasrten, a women’s programme centre, offices for the social and sanitation workers, and a depot for the distribution of food rations.

FACTS AND FIGURES

• On 30 June 2002, there were 16,016 registered refugees.
• UNRWA runs four schools in the camp: two elementary (ages 6-12) - one for boys (1220 pupils) and one for girls (1111 pupils); and two preparatory (ages 13-15) - one for boys (490 pupils) and one for girls (429 pupils).
• Between January- June 2002, there were 30982 patient consultations in the UNRWA health centre.
• 419 families (or 1483 refugees) are registered as special hardship cases (SHCs).
• Over the past four years, UNRWA has assisted 13 of the poorest refugee families with the rehabilitation of their shelter.

Figures as of 30 June 2002