LEBANON REFUGEE CAMP PROFILES

CAMP NUMBER OF
REGISTERED REFUGEES
Ein el-Hilweh 45,337
Nahr el-Bared 31,023
Rashidieh 25,580
Burj el-Barajneh 20,405
Burj el-Shemali 18,659
Beddawi 16,198
Shatila 12,235
El-Buss 10,107
Wavel 7,553
Mieh Mieh 5,037
Dbayeh 4,211
Mar Elias 1,411
Dikwaneh & Nabatieh (destroyed camps) 16,108
+ 10,092 refugees distributed throughout the camps.

[click on each camp name on the map for a profile of the camp]
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LEBANON REFUGEE CAMP PROFILES

Of the original 16 official camps in Lebanon, three were destroyed during the years of conflict and were never rebuilt or replaced: Nabatieh camp in south Lebanon, and Dikwaneh and Jisr el-Basha camps in the Beirut area. Most of the displaced refugees in Lebanon, approximately 6,000 families, are originally from these three camps. A fourth camp, Gouraud in Baalbeck, was evacuated many years ago and its inhabitants were transferred to Rashidieh camp in the Tyre area.

Today, all 12 official refugee camps in the Lebanon Field suffer from serious problems - no proper infrastructure, overcrowding, poverty and unemployment. The Lebanon Field has the highest percentage of Palestine refugees who are living in abject poverty and who are registered with the Agency's "special hardship" programme.

The number of Palestine refugees registered with UNRWA in Lebanon is currently 394,532, or an estimated 10 per cent of the population of Lebanon, a small country which is now quite densely populated.

Palestine refugees in Lebanon face specific problems. They do not have social and civil rights, and have very limited access to the government's public health or educational facilities and no access to public social services. The majority rely entirely on UNRWA as the sole provider of education, health and relief and social services. Considered as foreigners, Palestine refugees are prohibited by law from working in more than 70 trades and professions. This has led to a very high rate of unemployment amongst the refugee population.

Popular committees in the camps representing the refugees regularly discuss these problems with the Lebanese Government or with UNRWA officials, and they call for better living conditions for the refugees.

FACTS AND FIGURES

  • Total registered refugees – 394,532
  • Registered camp population – 223,956
  • Official camps - 12
  • Elementary and preparatory schools - 81
  • Secondary schools - 5
  • Enrolled pupils (2003/2004) – 41,583
  • Primary health care facilities - 25
  • Refugees registered as special hardship cases - 46,235
  • Number of UNRWA Field Office Area staff posts - 2,629
Figures as of 31 December 2003