Lebanon situation/Non-Lebanese armed groups – SecGen report under S/RES/1701 – Report (excerpts)

Report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1701 (2006)

Reporting period from 29 June to 13 November 2013

I.  Introduction

  
1. The present report provides a comprehensive assessment of the implementation of Security Council resolution 1701 (2006) since my previous report of 26 June 2013 (S/2013/381).

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 II.  Implementation of resolution 1701 (2006)  

C. Disarming armed groups

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47. There was no progress on the dismantling of military bases maintained by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command and Fatah al-Intifada. In 2006, it was decided in the National Dialogue that these bases should be dismantled. The existence of these bases continues to compromise Lebanese sovereignty and impede the ability of the State to effectively monitor and control parts of the Lebanese-Syrian border.

48. On 3 July, during a visit to Lebanon, the President of the State of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, stressed the need for Palestinian disassociation from the conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic and from any internal conflict in Lebanon. On 27 October, a Fatah member of the joint security force was killed in Ein el-Helweh camp.

 D.  Arms embargo and border control

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54. Tensions continued to be observed in Palestinian refugee camps stemming from overcrowding, competition for employment, rising prices and other factors resulting in part from the influx of Palestine refugees displaced from the Syrian Arab Republic. According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Lebanon, during the month of September the total number of Palestine refugees from the Syrian Arab Republic present in Lebanon was estimated to be 48,000. In view of the increased entry restrictions imposed by the Lebanese authorities at the border, the projected number of Palestine refugees from the Syrian Arab Republic by the end of the year has now been revised downward to approximately 60,000.

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 V.  Observations

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83. I welcome the continued efforts of the Palestinian leadership in Lebanon in working with the Lebanese authorities to maintain order. The need to improve the living conditions of Palestine refugees in Lebanon, without prejudice to the resolution of the refugee question in the context of a comprehensive peace settlement, is ever more urgent as the Palestine refugee camps are becoming increasingly overcrowded as a result of the numbers of Palestine refugees displaced from the Syrian Arab Republic. I encourage donors to be forthcoming in their support for UNRWA, including to enable it to effectively assist the Palestine refugees displaced from the Syrian Arab Republic.

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