The plight of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon continues to be largely ignored by the international community, especially in the wake of recent violence in Gaza, the president of a leading non-governmental organization has said. After the 1948 conflict with Israel, thousands of Palestinians fled to neighboring Lebanon in what many thought would be a temporary exodus.
Today, the refugees remain, having grown into a sizeable community of over 400,000, meaning they count for roughly a tenth of Lebanon's entire population. But despite their large numbers, Palestinian refugees face considerable obstacles in Lebanese society. They are barred from all but the most menial professions, cannot own property, and face social isolation by living in squalid camps often set apart from local communities.
"'Don't forget us' - I think that has to be the cry of all Palestinians," said Bill Corcoran, president of American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA), during a visit to Lebanon this week. The Washington-based organization has been working since 1968 to alleviate the suffering of Palestinians and other impoverished communities in Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan. But while the organization is dedicated to supporting the Palestinians, the international community finds it "easy to ignore them and just have them in a corner keeping quiet," Corcoran said, making particular reference to the deplorable situation at the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp near Tripoli, North Lebanon.
The camp was all but destroyed in 2007 when the Lebanese Armed Forces fought to obliterate a militant group, Fatah al-Islam, which had based itself there. The fighting killed 400 people, including 169 soldiers and an unverified number of Palestinian camp residents, and left the camp's 30,000 inhabitants homeless for a second time in history. Two years on, $440 million of international assistance required to rebuild has fallen through. "I'm very concerned at the fact that all these pledges were made and only 10 percent have been received," Corcoran told The Daily Star. "It frightens us that Nahr al-Bared and the conditions of the Palestinians in Lebanon seem to have been forgotten."
He hoped the camp would not be forgotten as the international community made pledges to rebuild Gaza after Israel's December 2008- January 2009 onslaught. "It can't be Gaza versus Nahr al-Bared. It has to be both," he said.
ANERA also works with poor Lebanese communities, often living on the fringes of the country's 12 official refugee camps, or with Palestinians in unofficial gatherings. "We want to be someone who comes in and through projects tries to unite people," Corcoran added.
Nevertheless, a solution for the Palestinians was fundamental to achieving a safer world, the NGO executive said. "If we don't solve this, we're going to be in constant crisis because the Middle East conflict is fuel for other problems around the world."
No comments:
Post a Comment