Lebanon practices discrimination ( Archived) (2)

""Poverty trap for Palestinian refugees By Alaa Shahine. 29 March 2004 alJazeera.net

Children in the Shatila refugee camp live in poverty


Amal Akar lost a daughter to cancer two years ago because she could
not afford medical treatment. Now a second daughter faces the same
fate.

More worryingly, Akar's story is not uncommon. The 36-year-old mother of seven lives in the deprived Shatila camp for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon where poverty is the norm.

With the limited assistance offered by the UN refugee agency and a
jobless husband, she is virtually penniless.

"We borrowed money and I sent letters to newspapers asking for help to no avail. I don't know what to do," she said, while carrying a crying baby in her arms.

Job bans

Part of the problem is that refugees are restricted from taking certain posts.

These restrictions on Lebanon's 400,000 Palestinian refugees have
been mounting since the end of the country's 15-year civil war in
1990. They are banned from 73 job categories including professions
such as medicine, law and engineering.

They are not allowed to own property, unlike other foreigners, and
are denied access to the Lebanese healthcare system.

Shatila's homes are densely packed and neglected with narrow,
stinking alleys, the dirty walls covered with posters of smiling men
killed during the Palestinian Intifada.

"I don't mind going anywhere in the world, just get me out of here,"
says Akar. "I don't want to settle in Lebanon. All that we have here
is trouble and poverty."

Few choices

But who said settling was an option?

The Lebanese government has said repeatedly that it will not allow
Palestinian refugees to settle. It says that granting them work
permits and rights to own land will encourage them not to leave and
jeopardise their right of return.

"I don't mind going anywhere in the world, just get me out of here"

Amal Akar,
mother of seven
Local analysts, however, attribute this stance to political reasons,
saying that the refugees' Sunni Muslim majority will upset the
balance of sectarian power in the country, currently in the favour of Lebanon's Shia. They also argue that Palestinians are paying the
price of the influx of Syrian workers who do not need work permits in Lebanon due to the huge Syrian influence in the country.

"They [the government] consider these things as acts of settlement. Do they think that if I work or own the roof above my head then I won't go back home?" said Khalid Abu al-Nur, of the Democratic Front of the Liberation of Palestine, one of many Palestinian groups that has an office in the camp.

"These are lame excuses. We are talking about basic human rights.
Refugees in Syria and Jordan are entitled to these rights. What's so
special about Lebanon?" he said.

Camp life

According to refugees, those living in other camps are not allowed
even to obtain construction tools such as cement to fix their houses.

"We can only do this here because we have Syrians living in the
camp," said Ahmad Abd al-Hadi, referring to the Syrian influence in
Lebanon.

If Palestinians settle in Lebanon
they risk losing the right to return Apart from the lack of basic services, people are finding it harder to secure food. Umm Rashid, a 69-year-old mother of seven, is classified by the UNRWA as a "special hardship case" or as UNRWA spokeswoman Huda al-Tirk puts it: "the poorest of the poor".

She lives on inimal financial aid and a package of basic commodities
provided by the agency, along with a $30 monthly salary paid by the
Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) for the loss of one of her
sons during the conflict with Israel.

But to make ends meet in a country where the minimum wages stand at $250 per month, she sells tools and groceries.""