BEIRUT, 4 July 2007 (IRIN) - The demining agency tasked with neutralizing unexploded ordnance (UXO) from the six-week conflict between militants and the Lebanese army in the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp has said the removal of immediate UXO threats will take at least a month. This raises the specter of further unrest among displaced refugees increasingly desperate to return home. “The operation should take around four weeks to eliminate the immediate threats, but there is bound to be UXO still found,” David Horrocks, Lebanon Country Programme Manager for the Mines Advisory Group (MAG), told IRIN. Read more about Deminers urge patience as Palestinians grow restless for return 

As Mohammad trudged towards the Lebanese army checkpoint on the outskirts of the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp, he thought the nightmare of the last three weeks was finally over. Unable to flee as gun battles and shelling razed their neighbors’ homes, Mohammad’s family had been stuck inside the camp since fighting first broke out between the Islamic militant group Fatah al-Islam and the Lebanese army. The army checkpoint was supposed to provide a safe haven for these desperate Palestinian civilians. Instead, Mohammad claims, this is where his journey of torture began. Sophie McNeill reports for Electronic Lebanon. Read more about Collective punishment of Palestinian civilians in Lebanon 

BEIRUT, 22 June 2007 (IRIN) - Aid groups are preparing to return Palestinians to the ravaged Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon, though it remains unclear whether a breakthrough in talks between the army and Fatah al-Islam is imminent. Even if fighting between the army and Sunni militant group Fatah al-Islam does end soon, tough challenges remain, aid agencies warn. Unexploded ordnance and rubble imperil the refugees’ way home. Read more about Challenges of returning refugees to destroyed camp 

BADDAWI REFUGEE CAMP, NORTH LEBANON, 20 June 2007 (IRIN) - Tens of thousands of Palestinians have fled the Lebanese army’s month-long siege and shelling of the north Lebanon Nahr al-Bared refugee camp, as its battle against Islamist militants continues. But one 16-year-old Palestinian student told IRIN his worst ordeal began after he escaped the camp. About 10 men he identified as soldiers and police were standing at a junction leading to the village of Muhammara, above Nahr al-Bared. “They asked to see my identity card,” said the boy, who requested anonymity for fear of retribution. Read more about Call for probe into Palestinian abuse claims 

BEDDAWI CAMP, 11 June 2007 (IRIN) - Seven-year-old Omar Mohammed Mallas may pretend the bombs and bullets that slammed into his home from the clashes outside did not scare him much, but spend a little time with the young resident of north Lebanon’s besieged Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp, and he quietly confesses his fears. “I saw the tanks and heard the explosions and I told my Mum: ‘Let’s get out of here.’ On the way I found a piece of shrapnel that I liked but I’ve lost it now. I’m really looking forward to going home,” said Omar. Read more about UNICEF estimates 20,000 children affected by conflict in camp 

BEIRUT, 10 June 2007 (IRIN) - Researchers warn that economic instability and persistent security threats are driving ever more young, educated Lebanese abroad, creating a brain drain that threatens the country’s economic and social future. “We’re suffering a huge brain drain,” Kamal Hamdan, head of the Lebanese Centre of Research and Studies, told IRIN. “Those who have the brains take their diplomas and leave. They are the young people who would go on to be middle executives and entrepreneurs. In the long term, their absence means we may face a serious shortage of policy developers and managers.” Read more about One in three Lebanese wants to leave 

BEIRUT, 7 June 2007 (IRIN) - Unexploded ordnance and booby-trapped buildings are hindering an already highly restricted relief effort trying to provide vital food and water and evacuate the injured from the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon. Up to 8,000 people remain caught in a deadly stand-off there between the military and Islamist militants. “It is becoming extremely difficult to mount relief operations, not only because of the deteriorating security conditions, but also because debris, rubble and unexploded ordnance on the camp’s roads are obstructing the way for ambulances and relief vehicles,” said Jordi Raich Curco, the ICRC head of delegation in Lebanon. Read more about Unexploded ordnance hampering aid deliveries to refugees 

BADDAWI CAMP, Lebanon, Jun 4 (IPS) - Fighting escalated Sunday and Monday in Lebanon as the Sunni Islamic group Jund al-Asham attacked army positions outside Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp, Ain al-Hilweh, in the south. Meanwhile, the top Palestinian leadership in Lebanon says it cannot guarantee it can control the reaction of the more than 400,000 Palestinians living in the 12 official refugee camps throughout the country if the Lebanese army’s all-out assault on the besieged Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in the north causes a heavy civilian death toll. Read more about Refugee Resentment Simmers as Fighting Escalates