Sidon- Abu Yasser, a displaced person from Al-Bass camp, recalls photoHe experienced difficult moments since moving to Deir al-Qasi School in Sidon.
He told Al Jazeera Net, “In the beginning, you took care of us.” UNRWABut it withdrew its hand from us and the situation became miserable. I could not provide the children’s supplies, and the associations provided little assistance,” adding, “The agency is better for us. We are under its protection and are internationally sponsored.”
Abu Yasser does not hide his fears when talking about their transfer to the “Siblin” center, north of the Awali River, on Tuesday, and fears of the unknown are evident in his voice, and thoughts are buzzing in his head about what the coming days may bring, saying, “We do not know what will happen to us, but we will not go.” “Anywhere, we refuse to go to Siblin.”
Abu Yasser’s words embody the suffering of dozens who are living under the weight of displacement in Deir al-Qasi school, which is shared by Intisar, a displaced person from Nabatieh, as she tells Al Jazeera Net, “They told us that we must go to Siblin, but we did not agree, as the situation is very difficult there, and the numbers are large.” While here it is better in all respects, even though UNRWA abandoned us.”
With clear concern, Hajj Kholoud, who was displaced from the city of Tire under the bombing, asks, “UNRWA has been responsible for us since the first day, and suddenly it withdrew its hand. What is the reason behind that? We do not know.”
Complex crisis
While Palestinian refugees in Lebanon face increasing crises as a result of the Israeli war on Lebanon, warnings continue to emerge to leave villages and towns south of Lebanon. Litani Riverincluding refugee camps, where the number of displaced Palestinians who moved from the south to the north is estimated at about 75 thousand, with about 5 thousand displaced persons registered inside the shelter centers supervised by UNRWA.
In a statement, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini announced the closure of the agency’s shelter center at Deir al-Qasi School in Sidon, which increases the suffering of refugees and reflects the increasing challenges they face.
The agency stated that any violation of its efforts to adhere to humanitarian principles in shelter centers cannot be tolerated. She said, “Despite our efforts to maintain an environment that respects these principles, they were not observed in the shelter center at Deir Al-Qasi School, which led to this decision.”
The agency added, “We understand that this decision may cause anxiety and confusion among the local community. However, adherence to humanitarian principles is crucial to maintaining the safety of the displaced and our staff, which remains our top priority.”
It also indicated that it had offered to transfer the displaced to alternative shelter centers for those affected by this decision, stressing that it would continue to provide support to the displaced during these difficult times.
This sudden decision to close the shelter center, which was part of the emergency plan, raised many questions among Palestinians about its repercussions on the lives of thousands of displaced people. UNRWA had allocated 13 schools to be converted into shelter centers, distributed as follows:
- 6 centers in Sidon: including Beit Jala School, Birzeit School, Siblin Training Center (South Campus), Nablus School, Rafidia School, and Deir al-Qasi School.
- In Beirut: Ya`bad School.
- 5 centers in the north and Nahr al-Bared camp include Battir School, Mount Tabor School, Amqa School, Tubas and Gaza Schools, and Mazar and Megiddo Schools.
- In the Bekaa: Al-Jarmaq School.
In addition, there is Al-Manara School and the Siblin Training Center in the north, and the Sakhrah School in Mieh Mieh Camp in Sidon, which has been equipped as a center but is not yet open.
Ambiguous decision
Director General of the 302nd Authority for Defending Refugee Rights, Ali Huwaidi, told Al Jazeera Net that UNRWA’s decision is “surprising and unacceptable,” especially since Deir al-Qasi school is one of the schools declared by UNRWA as a shelter center, and currently includes approximately 90 families, most of whom are displaced from The Tire region, specifically from the Rashidieh, Al-Bass, and Borj Al-Shamali camps in southern Lebanon.
Huwaidi pointed out that lifting UNRWA’s responsibility for this school has humanitarian and political dimensions, especially after the request directed at families to move to schools in the northern region, such as my camp. Nahr Al-Bared And Al-Beddawi, which was rejected by the families and institutions that provide services within the school.
He stressed that there is a fear of a displacement project for Palestinians towards the north of the Awali River, citing the suspension of UNRWA services in the camps in the Tire area. However, the agency returned and opened its clinics for two days a week and two hours a day in the Rashidiya and Burj al-Shamali camps, in addition to resuming waste collection tasks after the pressures that were put on it. .
Huwaidi believed that these measures may be a prelude to completely ending the agency’s services in the future, if security tension escalates. He also pointed out that UNRWA canceled the accreditation of two schools as shelter centers, namely “Al-Mansoura” in Al-Qasimiya and “Al-Houla” School in Kafr Baddeh, as one of the indicators of this.
He pointed out that UNRWA could have found other solutions to transfer refugees from Deir al-Qasi school, such as transferring them to other schools affiliated with it in areas such as Mieh Mieh camp, but he did not rule out that the decision had political dimensions related to the issue of displacement, which he considered completely unacceptable.
Insufficient needs
In another context, Huwaidi pointed out that the emergency appeal launched by UNRWA, worth $27 million, does not meet the needs of all the displaced, as this money was allocated to serve only 10,000 displaced people in its centres, ignoring tens of thousands of displaced people in the camps of Mar Elias, Nahr al-Bared, Beddawi and others.
He stressed that some other camps are almost empty of their residents, such as the Burj al-Barajneh and Shatila camps, where only about 10% of their residents remain.
Huwaidi also warned that the emergency plan did not take into account the needs of all displaced people, and that depriving other camps of services would further aggravate the humanitarian situation there.
He pointed out that approximately 25,000 Palestinian refugees still live in the Tire area, out of 75,000 spread out in communities such as Al-Qasimiya, Al-Barglieh, Abu Al-Aswad, Jal Al-Bahr, and Al-Shubriha.
Huwaidi pointed out that the services provided within the centers for the displaced are insufficient, as the displaced suffer from a lack of basic assistance, such as food, hygiene, and water.