Middle East Features
Palestinian refugees in Lebanon hope for better life
By Weedah Hamzah
Jan 20, 2007, 19:12 GMT

Beirut - Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, who live in overcrowded refugee camps, hope that the expected visit by their president, Mahmoud Abbas, to the country next week will bring a glimpse of hope for a better life.

'We hope that the visit by President Abbas will be a chance to discuss the situation of some 367,000 Palestinian refugees living on Lebanese soil without social rights,' Palestinian analyst Suheil al- Natour said.

Palestinians in Lebanon lack the basic human needs. They do not have the right to work in dozens of professions or receive social security, they also do not have the right to own or inherit property.

'Palestinians are banned from 70 professions and are only confined to cheap labour with minimum wages without any kind of social security,' al-Natour said.

Mahmoud Abbas is expected to arrive in Lebanon on Monday to hold talks with Lebanese officials on the situation in the Middle East and the conditions of Palestinians living in 12 camps scattered across Lebanon.

'We hope that the talks will tackle our miserable conditions especially among the young educated Palestinian who are sitting jobless inside the camps,' 20-year-old student Mohammed Shreidi said.

According to al-Natour the rate of unemployment among the Palestinians is 80 per cent. He attributed this to Lebanese laws which discriminate against the Palestinians.

'For example, a Palestinian accountant, medical doctor, hairdresser, pharmacist, engineer or lawyer is unable to practise their profession legally in Lebanon,' al-Natour said.

'Before a lot of officials came to Lebanon and no-one managed to ease or slightly improve our situation in order to have a respectable normal life like other refugees living in other Arab countries,' Shreidi said.

The Palestinian refugees were forced to flee their homes and lands at the time of the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 and again when Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1967.

Many of them took refuge in Lebanon, where they remain today, together with their descendents.

'Life inside the camps is harsh. We live in shacks. Sewage water runs in the streets, which makes it an unhealthy atmosphere for Palestinian children to live in. That is why our president should look into our situation and try to work with the Lebanese government to improve conditions for us,' Palestinian teacher Souad Hamad said.

Lebanon has repeatedly stated that it will not accept the permanent settlement of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and that their presence in the country is temporary.

Lebanon denies the Palestinians any rights for fear that any settlement would destabilize an already fragile religious make-up of the country. Most of the Palestinian refugees are Sunni Muslims.

Al-Natour ruled out that Abbas' visit might change anything for the current living conditions but said, 'At least the refugees have hope that the discussions might tackle their issue.'

'Of all the Palestinians living in the diaspora, the Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon have the worst living conditions. At least if you live in another Arab state, you can own or inherit a property. In Lebanon you are barred from doing that,' said Amin al Khalil, a Palestinian merchant inside the Palestinian refugee camp of Mar Elias.

The Lebanese law also bars Palestinians from inheriting any property or registering property that they had already bought or were in the process of buying.

The law does not explicitly target Palestinian refugees, but bars those who are not 'bearers of the nationality of a recognized state' from owning property; in practice, this means only the Palestinians.

Most of the Lebanese officials admit that the laws against the Palestinian refugees are 'unjust,' but agree that an overall settlement of the Palestinian refugees should be found to solve the issue.

'If permanent settlement is not the solution for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, this does not mean that adequate solutions that protect our fundamental rights to live a decent life should not be sought by our leaders,' al-Khalil said.