A look into the lives of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon as they wait for a solution to their plight — Global Issues

The Al Biddawi camp for Palestinian refugees was established in 1955 to provide shelter to many of those who had been forcibly expelled from the Upper Galilee and the northern coastal towns during the so-called Palestinian Nakbaor catastrophe in Arabic.

Since then, the camp’s population has grown dramatically as violence continues to haunt its stateless population, including the Lebanese civil war and the conflict in Syria, which has seen Syrian and Palestinian refugees flood across the border into the small Mediterranean country.

The narrow and poor streets are symbolic of the struggle to survive here. In this one square kilometre, more than 21,000 Palestinians live alongside many impoverished Lebanese civilians and Syrian refugees, according to the UN’s Palestinian aid agency. UNRWA.

As in many disadvantaged neighborhoods around the camp, work has become scarce for the population due to the economic crisis that has plagued Lebanon since late 2019. Even those who do have work can barely make ends meet.

‘May God alleviate the suffering of all’

Ahmad* is an unemployed father of eight children who suffers from various chronic illnesses.

Too proud to reveal his real name, he said UN News that rats often climb along the random electrical wires that have formed webs all the way from the street level to his one-bedroom apartment on the fourth floor. Despite the windows being blocked by other buildings nearby, they keep them open in an attempt to relieve the scorching heat.

The family has no fan to plug into the small amount of electricity they receive from their charity neighbors. A look inside their empty, unplugged refrigerator shows that this family goes many nights without food.

Ahmad said he often can’t find anyone willing to lend him money until some relief comes from UNRWA’s cash assistance. The agency gives him $50 every 12 weeks for each child under 18, and even that amount was recently reduced to $30 due to budgetary constraints before more funding was made available.

“A home-cooked meal costs no less than one million liras ($11.17),” Ahmad said. “My eldest son has a speech impediment. I tried to teach him a trade, but they made fun of him, so now he is stuck at home with no future. There are many people in this camp who live in similar circumstances and are also too proud to ask for charity. May God ease the suffering of all people.”

The indispensable role of UNRWA

UNRWA is doing what it can to support the Palestinian population in Al Biddawi camp and throughout the region, as mandated by the General Assembly in 1949. resolution 302The UN agency has taken over the vast majority of civilian affairs, providing education, health, protection and social services, while security and administration in the camp are the responsibility of committees and Palestinian factions.

The camp’s only UNRWA-run health facility has 28 staff members, all of whom are Palestinian refugees themselves. It serves 400 to 500 patients daily and offers a wide range of services, from dental and optical care to general medicine and specialist consultations.

While there, UN News spoke with Dr. Husam Ghuniem, UNRWA’s Chief of Health in Northern Lebanon, who explained the importance of the services provided to Palestinian refugees here.

“If UNRWA were to disappear tomorrow, there would be a catastrophe in this camp, because we have no other humanitarian organization that can and will provide the same level of assistance as UNRWA,” he said.

In addition to the services provided at the center, Dr. Ghuniem explained that UNRWA has contracts with seven Lebanese government and private hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent Hospital, covering most of the costs of secondary and tertiary care, which can be extremely expensive in Lebanon. Yet most Palestinians struggle to pay their share.

“The economic decline has led to a lack of employment opportunities, even for Lebanese citizens. What about Palestinians who are already banned from working in more than 70 professions?” he asked.

The UNRWA official highlighted the struggle of cancer patients. He explained that the agency covers 75 percent of the cost of medicines, most of which cannot be subsidized by the Lebanese government for Palestinian refugee patients. Since most of them cannot work, the costs can be truly unbearable.

Refugees serving their communities

Dr. Ghuniem stressed that the issue of refugees from Palestine is the reason why UNRWA continues to exist.

“I am proud of the work I do here at UNRWA, which allows me to serve our Palestinian people,” he said. “UNRWA’s existence is the only witness to our Nakba and the issue of our refugee status since 1948 until today. It defends us and provides us with our basic needs until we can return to our land, God willing.”

This sentiment was shared by Dr. Mohamed Badran, the head of the UNRWA health centre in Al Biddawi camp.

“As a Palestinian refugee, working for UNRWA and providing services to my people who are suffering from difficult economic and living conditions is the least I can do,” he said.

Dr. Badran emphasized in an interview with UN News that UNRWA is a symbol of the plight of Palestinian refugees.

“As long as there are Palestinian refugees, UNRWA must continue to exist alongside them,” he stressed.

Abdul Sattar Hasan, 67, is a descendant of a refugee from the village of Sepphoris, northwest of Nazareth. He has been coming to this health center for more than 22 years.

A cancer survivor himself, he suffers from a long list of chronic illnesses. He told UN News He finds it reassuring that all staff at the UNRWA health centre treat their patients humanely.

“It’s not that they treat me well and respect me more because I’m an older guy,” he explained. “No, I find that they treat all people that way. It’s excellent and humane. You get the feeling that employees don’t work here to get a paycheck. They work to get a message across, and that’s something I respect and appreciate very much.”

* Not his real name