NAHRAL-BARED (IRIN) - Two years on from the devastating battle which destroyed their homes and livelihoods, Palestinian refugees from Nahr al-Bared are set to see reconstruction work begin inside the camp’s official boundaries. Despite a resilient recovery under way among Palestinians living in the new camp — the area around the edge of the official Nahr al-Bared refugee camp — legal hurdles, political wrangling and the recent discovery of archaeological ruins under the site of the old camp have delayed reconstruction work there. Read more about Two years later, reconstruction to start in Nahr al-Bared
BEIRUT (IPS) - Palestinian refugee Youssef Shaaban was released from prison early this month — after serving 16 years in a Lebanese prison for a crime he did not commit. Shaaban was convicted by Lebanon’s Justice Council in October 1994 on charge of shooting and killing the first secretary of the Jordanian embassy, Naeb Imran Matiyeh. Read more about No law for detained Palestinians
Two years after it was destroyed in the wake of fighting between the Lebanese army and a militant group, the fate of the Palestinian refugee camp, Nahr al-Bared remains unclear. This 10-minute film, the co-owner of an ice cream factory, the president of the local traders committee and the imam of the al-Quds Mosque, all Palestinian refugees, speak about the siege and its economic consequences. Read more about Video: Nahr al-Bared "Two Years Under Siege"
The three-month-long war between the Lebanese army and Fatah al-Islam militants in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared in northern Lebanon ended on 2 September 2007. While the Lebanese army has allowed displaced residents to return to some parts of the camp, the fate of other parts of the camp still under the army’s control remains unclear. Ray Smith reports for Electronic Lebanon. Read more about Nahr al-Bared's future remains unclear as army holds on to neighborhoods
This 26-minute film follows a father and his son in the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp as they attempt to deal with their unemployment. The two have been living in temporary metal shelters for more than a year, waiting to return to their camp. By documenting issues of reconstruction, temporary housing, economy, unemployment and despair, the film touches on the daily experience of life in Nahr al-Bared refugee camp. Read more about Video: Nahr al-Bared, "A Sip of Coffee"
Mohammad and Mahmoud sat on an idle field on the edge of the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared in northern Lebanon. While Mahmoud sang to the songs being played on his mobile phone, Mohammad used his for gaming. Mohammad looked up and explained, “We spend our days doing nothing. We get up and sit at the cafe for a few hours. Then we go home and pray. We gather again and return to the cafe. There we sit until the evening. Every day passes like this.” Ray Smith reports on the dire economic conditions in Nahr al-Bared. Read more about No work in Nahr al-Bared camp
BEIRUT (IPS) - One can be born in Lebanon and live here all one’s life, and still not be a Lebanese citizen. Lebanon is one of few remaining countries in the Middle East where a mother is unable to pass citizenship to her children. Campaigners have succeeded in securing that right in countries such as Egypt, which amended the law in 2004 to allow women to pass citizenship to their children, and in Algeria, which granted women full citizenship rights in 2005. In Lebanon the struggle continues. Read more about Women battle for citizenship rights
About two years ago, a battle broke out between the Lebanese army and the militant group Fatah al-Islam in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared in northern Lebanon. The summer-long battle concluded in September 2007 and the camp was totally destroyed — the rubble indicating that the destruction was systematic, most likely committed by the Lebanese army. After several delays, the UN-mandated core of the camp, the so-called “old camp,” has meanwhile been cleared of approximately 600,000 meters of rubble. Yet, reconstruction hasn’t begun and residents are still unable to enter the old camp, the access of which is controlled by the Lebanese army, and displaced refugees are increasingly resentful. Ray Smith reports. Read more about Two years later, no reconstruction in Nahr al-Bared
KAFRBADA, Lebanon (IRIN) - For the last 30 years Ali Mohammed Hindawi, aged 84, has lived alone in a rusty tin shack in south Lebanon, without water, electricity or a toilet, sleeping among chickens, flies and litter, and separated from his family by displacement and poverty. “What do I think about at night? I think about my situation, that this is not a life for me,” said the frail old man, barely able to sit up after weathering another winter of freezing temperatures and downpours. Read more about Palestinian refugees neglected in "gatherings"
BEIRUT (IRIN) - Deminers in south Lebanon clearing hundreds of thousands of unexploded Israeli-dropped cluster bomb submunitions will lose two-thirds of their teams this year unless a drastic funding shortfall is addressed. The shortfall could mean that the mostly agricultural land will not be cleared of deadly ordnance for eight years or more. Read more about Funding cuts threaten cluster bomb demining
