Palestinians went on strike in north Lebanon on Tuesday in protest at the slow pace of efforts to restore living conditions in a bombed-out refugee camp, Palestinian officials said. Shops and schools in Beddawi camp, outside the port city of Tripoli, shut down in solidarity with refugees of nearby Nahr al-Bared where a deadly 15-week battle between Lebanese troops and Islamist terrorists ended on Sept. 2. They were protesting at the "inaction" of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, and of the Beirut government toward Nahr al-Bared refugees who have been returning to the bombed-out camp.
Palestinian factions called the strike to demand "decent housing and a school for those who have returned to their camp, for the rehabilitation of infrastructure and buildings, and the clearing of rubble."
| UNRWA official Hoda Turk told reporters that the agency was providing "temporary services" for the returning refugees, as Nahr al-Bared's reconstruction would take "about three to four years" and need to be carried in phases. |
Palestinian refugees have staged several protest actions since the end of fighting to demand the return of those displaced to Nahr al-Bared and with decent living conditions. Many of the displaced were evacuated to Beddawi.
UNRWA official Hoda Turk told reporters that the agency was providing "temporary services" for the returning refugees, as Nahr al-Bared's reconstruction would take "about three to four years" and need to be carried in phases.
Nearly three months after fierce fighting between the army and Fatah al-Islam destroyed much of Nahr al-Bared, less than 8,000 out of the shantytown's 31,000 residents have returned home. The Lebanese government has also told the refugees that it will take 3 to 4 years to rebuild the camp and asked them to be patient since the whole camp was destroyed as a result of the attack by Fatah al-Islam terrorists. |