Palestijnse vluchtelingen in Libanon

Al 60 jaar vraagt het probleem van de Palestijnse vluchtelingen om een oplossing. Na de oorlog van 1948-1949 bood Israël aan een deel van hen weer toe te laten in het kader van een vredesovereenkomst, maar die is er nooit gekomen. Israël beschouwde de Palestijnse Arabieren, die zich massaal tegen de oprichting van Israël hadden verzet, in principe als vijandige personen die met de buurlanden samenspanden om Israël te vernietigen. De Arabische staten - op Jordanië na - weigerden om de vluchtelingen definitieve huisvesting en staatsburgerschap te geven.

 

De tentenkampen waarin de vluchtelingen aanvankelijk waren opgevangen werden na enkele jaren vervangen door eenvoudige woonwijken, maar hun kansen op onderwijs, werk en verbetering van hun positie zijn doorgaans gering. Een speciaal voor hen opgerichte VN organisatie, de UNRWA, voorziet hen al 60 jaar van de basisbenodigdheden.

 

In onderstaand artikel verwijst Amnesty ook naar het recht op terugkeer van de vluchtelingen. Dat is fictief, want de eis tot terugkeer naar waar nu Israël is, is één van de hoofdproblemen die al decennialang een oplossing van het Arabisch-Israëlische conflict in de weg staat.

 

 

Wouter

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Amnesty International

Palestinian refugees suffer in Lebanon
http://web.amnesty.org/pages/refugees-161007-feature-eng

Palestinian refugees in Lebanon face discrimination in employment and a lack of access to adequate education and housing.

A new Amnesty International report: Exiled and Suffering: Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, examines the wide range of restrictions that continue to impact on the lives of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees.

More than half of the 300,000 Palestinian refugees residing in Lebanon live in 12 official Palestinian refugee camps. The area of land allocated for these camps has remained largely unchanged since 1948 despite significant population growth. In some households, families of 10 share a single room.

They continue to be denied the right to adequate housing, due to unacceptable levels of habitability and restrictions on property ownership.

In camps in the south of Lebanon, unreasonable restrictions have been imposed on refugees' right to repair or improve their homes. Some refugees have been intimidated, fined and detained simply for seeking to build a brick wall to protect their home from the elements.

Palestinians continue to suffer discrimination and marginalization in the labour market, contributing to high levels of unemployment, low wages and poor working conditions.

The Lebanese authorities recently lifted a ban on 50 of the 70 jobs not permitted to Palestinians, but refugees continue to face obstacles finding employment in such jobs.

This lack of employment prospects has led to a high drop-out rate for Palestinian schoolchildren, who also have limited access to public secondary education. The resultant poverty is exacerbated by restrictions placed on their access to social services.

The Lebanese government must take concrete steps to end all forms of discrimination against Palestinian refugees and to fully protect and uphold their human rights.

The international community must also attempt to find a durable solution for refugees that fully respects and protects their human rights, including their right of return. This may involve providing financial and technical assistance to Lebanon, helping it provide the best possible human rights protection to its Palestinian refugee population.

Read more:
Lebanon: End discrimination against Palestinian refugees (Press Release, October 17 2007)
Lebanon: Exiled and suffering: Palestinian refugees in Lebanon (Report, October 17 2007)
Palestinian refugees in Lebanon: Six decades of exile and suffering (Focus Sheet, October 17 2007)