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

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

  

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I. Implementation of resolution 1701 (2006)

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A. Situation in the UNIFIL area of operations

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23. UNIFIL encountered individuals carrying hunting weapons in the area of operations during the reporting period. Lebanese Armed Forces and UNIFIL continue to take action to curb all hunting activities, and the Lebanese Armed Forces has detained a number of individuals and confiscated their weapons. On five occasions several of those individuals purported to be hunters were carrying AK-47s. In addition, armed persons and weapons were present inside Palestinian refugee camps in the area of operations.

C. Disarming armed groups

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33. Lebanese authorities point to the good cooperation existing between the Lebanese Armed Forces and Palestinian security officials in the 12 official Palestinian refugee camps in the country. Only one major incident was reported in the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon during the reporting period. This involved the assassination in the Ain el-Hilweh camp on 25 December 2010 of Ghandi Sahmarani, a member of the disbanded Jund al-Sham group. Following his murder, a bomb was planted in a building that allegedly belongs to Fatah al-Islam in Ain el-Hilweh; the bomb caused only material damage. Lebanese authorities attributed the assassination to in-fighting between rival groups in Ain el-Hilweh camp.

V. Observations

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66. The dismal situation faced by Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon continues to be a matter of concern. While I commend the first steps taken by Lebanon to ease some of the restrictions that applied to access by Palestinian refugees to the labour market, I call on the future Government of Lebanon, building on the commendable efforts spearheaded by the previous two Lebanese Prime Ministers, and on the donor community to ensure that further measures are adopted to improve the living conditions of Palestinian refugees so that their basic human rights are respected. I am also concerned by the continuous funding shortfalls faced by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) both for its regular programmes, aimed at delivering basic services to the Palestinian refugees, and for the reconstruction of the Nahr al-Bared camp. I urge donors, including countries in the region, to continue, and if possible to increase, their support for UNRWA.

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