Nahr al-Bared refugees start sit-in at UNRWA Headquarters

Middle East Monitor  /  September 17, 2022

A number of Palestinian refugees from Nahr al-Bared Refugee Camp in north Lebanon began an open-ended sit-in on Thursday at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)’s headquarters, the Palestine Information Center reported.

The refugees called on UNRWA to immediately pay their rent and demanded to meet the UNRWA director.

According to the Palestine Information Center, the Consortium of Families of the New Refugee Camp called for the sit-in.

The families urged UNRWA to double a $75 monthly payment for rent for families whose homes were destroyed in 2007, beginning next year.

Between 2007, when the refugees’ houses were destroyed, and 2014, when UNRWA started to face budget deficits, the organization paid $150 for rent payments per month.

The Lebanese army’s hunt for Fatah members in 2007 led to the loss of the houses and properties of Palestinian refugees. Over 27,000 Palestinian refugees were forced to abandon their homes.

The UNRWA compound housing the agency’s health centre, schools and relief office was also destroyed.

More than a decade later, much of the community remains uprooted and continues to rely heavily on assistance, which was cut in half by UNRWA.

Head of the Reconstruction Unit Thomas White told the refugees in May that UNRWA planned to complete 85 per cent of the reconstruction of homes by the end of 2023.