R E F U G E E S

NUR SHAMS REFUGEE CAMP

Nur Shams camp was established in 1952 on .226 square kilometres, 3 kilometers east of Tulkarm. Original refugees in the camps came from villages around Haifa. Before 1952, they lived in tents in the Jenin valley near Janzour, until a snow storm destroyed their tents in 1950. They then took up shelter in the areas surrounding Wadi Al Shaer, including the former British prison of Nur Shams, where UNRWA began building shelthers in 1956. Like other West Bank campus, it was established on land UNRWA leased from the government of Jordan.

All shelters are connected to public water and electricity infrastructure, and nearly all are connected to the municipal sewerage network. The camp was transferred to PA control in November 1998, after the Wye River Memorandum’s and the first phase of further Israeli redeployment.

Registered Refugees

  • Total: 9,163 (December 2007)
  • Average family size: 4.9
  • Poverty rate: 48.7%; 34.2% in absolute poverty
  • Unemployment rate: 19.8%; affected by inaccessibility of Israeli labour market
  • Average monthly income: NIS 1,861
  • Average Age: 22.8
  • Demographic Profile
Age: 0-14 15-24 25-60 Over 60
Percentage of Refugees 41.3 21.9 33.1 3.8

UNRWA Education Programme

  • Schools: 2 single-sex elementary/preparatory schools.
  • Pupils: 1957

UNRWA Relief and Social Services Programme

  • Food distribution centre: 1
  • Social Safety Net (SSN) Programme beneficiaries: 252 families
  • UNRWA collects trash and disposes of it outside the camp
  • UNRWA provided assistance to four of the five houses affected by IDF incursions
  • UNRWA maintains paved roads (approximately 30% of total camp roads)

UNRWA Microfinance Programme

  • Loan beneficiaries: 55 residents
  • Total value: $55,932

UNRWA Health Programme

  • UNRWA health centre: 1, with 2,414 active family files

UNRWA Emergency Programme

  • 1,233 families receiving emergency food and cash assistance
  • 95 beneficiaries of emergency employment programme

Community Services

  • 1 Community based Rehabilitation Centre

  • 1 youth activity centre

  • 1 children’s center

  • 3 kindergartens

  • 1 women’s programme centre

  • 1 disability center

  • 6 mosques

  • 1 library

  • 1 post office

  • 1 playground located just outside camp boundaries