Background

A. Lebanon Support's Organization Profile

Lebanon Support is an Emergency, Recovery and Development information center and portal (http:// www.lebanon-support.org) launched during the 2006 July war, through a partnership initiative between Handicap International, Mada Association and Lebanon’s Ministry of Social Affairs.

Lebanon Support was registered as a National Non-Governmental Organization in November 2008, after being a hosted project by the above-mentioned partnership.

The organization started work as an information-sharing platform to coordinate relief and recovery efforts during and in aftermath of, the 2006 July war. Its activities covered Beirut and South Lebanon and emphasized on hosting humanitarian, recovery and civil society news, projects, information and publications, under the financial support of ECHO.

In May 2007, Lebanon Support dispatched the Direct Response Unit (DRU) in response to the Nahr el Bared crisis, and set-up an emergency information system in Beddawi camp. (The project was under the support of Handicap International and ECHO and in partnership with UNDP/RC.)

Since 2007, Lebanon Support has since been supporting and enhancing information sharing and coordination mechanisms in the aim of increasing efficiency and effectiveness of humanitarian response.

By the beginning of 2008, Lebanon Support launched the first “Lebanon Civil Society Directory” listing profiles of more than 450 NGOs and International Organizations working in Lebanon.
By March 2010, the Ministry of Social Affairs in partnership with Lebanon Support will release the second version of the directory containing the profiles of about 1,200 Organizations.

While on the field, Lebanon Support had expanded its operations in Beddawi Camp to cover early recovery activities, and was designated by the Humanitarian and recovery community as the Information focal point for the Nahr el Bared Crisis.

On the 1st of March 2009, Lebanon-Support launched the Emergency & Recovery Information System’s (ERIS) website: <a>http://www.lebanon-support.org/nbc</a>. The project was supported by UNDP/ RC, Handicap International and under with the financial support of ECHO.

Lebanon Support has also developed, implemented and is still implementing several other projects on a national level, among these projects:

• Lebanon’s civil society portal in partnership with the Ministry of Social Affairs has the profiles of more than 1200 NGOs, hosts a library of more than 2,600 resources, and has a considerable visitor base (approximately 20,000 visitors per month), which makes it one of the top destinations for civil society organizations and development actors in Lebanon. (continuous)

• Lebanon Support’s National Mapping of Vulnerabilities (2007-2008)

• Lebanon Support Security and Mobility Tracker (May 2008)

• Palestinian civil society directory with Save the Children, Sweden (2009)

• The Nahr el Bared Reconstruction Conference in Partnership with Oxfam GB and Transparency International (February 2008)

• Mental and Reproductive Health Survey in Nahr el Bared and Beddawi Camps in partnership with Welfare Association (2009-2010)

• Municipal Elections Referral System with Catholic Relief Services (2010)

Lebanon Support’s main operational framework is focused on information management, production and delivery, aiming at enhancing the knowledge base of civil society actors and development, recovery and emergency actors, to best respond to the emerging needs of the vulnerable communities in Lebanon. As it is within Lebanon Support beliefs, that an informed development and recovery and emergency community, renders it more efficient and more effective, thus enabling it to reduce the existing vulnerabilities within the country.

B. Methodology

This report is a statistical output of Lebanon Support’s Emergency and Recovery Information System (ERIS) for Nahr El-Bared.

ERIS was put in place to facilitate and support existing coordination mechanisms between the humanitarian and recovery community working with the Nahr El-Bared community.

ERIS is composed of three main components:

• IDP & Returnee Monitor: Monitors the activity and mobility of the affected population in terms of Displacement and Return
• Needs Assessment System: Monitors and records the situation and conditions of the affected population
• Aid Monitoring System: Monitors and records aid delivery through the various existing coordination mechanisms and provides information about existing gaps and possible duplication

These three components provide the humanitarian and recovery community with a comprehensive and a clear view on the situation and conditions of the affected population, their current location, their needs, and how they are being supported, thus providing tools to measure effectiveness and impact of aid. These tools provide the platform for effective aid coordination.

Rationale behind ERIS

• The 3Ws
In any crisis or displacement situation, there are several factors that restrict and impact the situation: the location of the affected population and their movement; the conditions and the situation of the affected population; and at last but not least is how they are being supported and what are they being supported with.

These factors are commonly known as the three “W”: Who? What? Where?

These factors provide the grounds for any actor to be able to programme, design and deliver aid. The existence of such information is essential to guarantee that what is being delivered is coherent with the needs of the population, and that aid is being delivered to where the population is currently residing and that what is being delivered has not been delivered yet.

Yet adopting the rationale of aid coordination is not enough to obtain effective coordination, as most actors conduct specific surveys and assessments for their planning purposes, rendering usability specific to certain types of interventions;

• Information Management
Thus, to guarantee coordination effectiveness, there is a necessity to develop a system that plays the role of an information focal point, that acts as the consolidator of available information, but also determines existing information gaps and works on filling these gaps with the relevant information products in the aim of enhancing the efficiency of Aid delivery and fortifying existing coordination mechanisms.

The ongoing process of consolidating information, disseminating them, and collecting new information, provides the humanitarian and recovery community with the tools and the framework to plan before-hand, to anticipate developments, and to understand the impact of their actions on the affected population and most importantly to have the ability to respond more effectively.

Yet this process cannot be implemented as a “ready-to-use” solid structure within any crisis, it has to be molded and structured to best fit the existing information coordination mechanisms, i.e. it is necessary to contextualize the system to best fit the needs of the involved actors.

Hence, since its creation, ERIS was conceptualized and developed as a system that can adapt itself to the changing situation of the crisis.

The statistics and figures available in the report are mainly based on the data collected through the IDP & Returnee Database, which is a major component of the Needs Assessment System of Lebanon Support’s Emergency and Recovery Information System (ERIS) IDP & Returnee Database

The Nahr El-Bared IDP & Returnee Database mapped and assessed the conditions and the location of all families and individuals whose natural place of inhabitance was Nahr El-Bared camp (Official Camp and Adjacent Area). The database’s aim was to provide the humanitarian and recovery community with the appropriate information tools and products to best plan, assess and monitor their interventions in Nahr El-Bared and Beddawi camps.

Data collection for the database was conducted through three main surveys:

•  Shelter Survey: assessing shelter conditions of the displaced, semi-returnee and returnee population of NBC (All of Lebanon)
• Socio-Economic Survey: assessing social, economic, health, education and consumption and reliance on services of the displace, semi-returnee and returnee population of NBC (All of Lebanon) 
• Buildings Survey: A mapping of residential and commercial buildings and units in all of the NBC Adjacent Area

The Database has information and data on 5467 families, counting around 27,000 people.

Survey Design

The survey used in the IDP & Returnee Database was divided into two main tracks. One track assessed the condition of the household as a whole, mainly focusing on the location, contact information, shelter and services; where as the second track focused on a individual information, such as demographics, health condition, social situation, education and employment.

This method allowed Lebanon Support to assess both the conditions of households and the conditions of population segments based on their social and economic conditions.

The same rationale was used in all areas, with locality specific differences, e.g. in Nahr El-Bared adjacent area, additional indicators were used to assess damages to housing units, safety conditions and general environmental conditions, among other issues.

The process of localizing the survey indicators while keeping key indicators the same, allowed Lebanon Support to indicate the differences in the situation and the conditions between regions, and at the same time to compare between the shared conditions.

This method proved to be useful in providing a good overview of the situation and the differences between regions, which are highly probable due to several factors: 1) Urban fabric of the assessed regions; 2) Proximity from service providers, 3) Presence of damage; 4) Presence of humanitarian and recovery projects; among other factors.

Data Collection

To be able to map the totality of the Nahr El-Bared population, data collection was based on areas of displacement and identified 5 Main areas of displacement: North Lebanon, Bekaa, Beirut, Saida and Tyr

North Lebanon being the host of the majority of IDPs and returnees was divided into three main areas: Beddawi Camp, Jabal El-Beddawi and Tripoli Suburbs and the third area being Nahr El-Bared Adjacent Area and surroundings.

These areas have been mapped house to house over the course of 12 months, starting in areas of displacement and finishing in the NBC Adjacent Area, this method allowed us not to miss any of the NBC families, and to reduce the risks of information gaps.

Lebanon Support developed a logistical plan for the data collection, sectioning each region into different sectors based on their urban composition (buildings, houses, huts, etc...), and data collection teams were dispatched to tour all houses, buildings, schools, shops and other structures, identifying existing families and inteviewing them. A family is validated to be from Nahr El-Bared either through the UNRWA ID card or through the file number given to the non-ID Palestinians.

Data Validation and Audit

Data validation for the survey consisted of three main steps:
1) Identification of possible duplication: Checking if the interviewed family has been interviewed twice, in that case if both surveys are consistent, then latest is preserved, while the other is dropped, if they are no consistent, then the family is re-interviewed.

2) Identification of information gaps: In some cases, the surveyor might miss some questions in the survey, or the family did not answer to specific questions, if these questions are integral to the survey, the family is interviewed again, if not the data is then preserved.

3) Checking inconsistencies in supplied information: this process validates that the information supplied by the family is consistent throughout the survey, (e.g. Family size, as some families mention their married children as members of the family, while in the official UNRWA registration card they are not mentioned, since they would have their own separate card) in such cases the family si re-interviewed.

Data Audit is a separate process conducted after one area is completed, based on the area and the number of families, a random sample of 10% to 15% of completed surveys are selected, and then the families are tracked back based on the information present in the survey. If the audit results show an error margin larger than 5%, then a larger sample of 25% to 30% is selected and tracked back, if the error margin is increasing, then the surveying process is restarted in that specific area, if the error margin disappears in the larger audit sample, then the errorous surveys are re-done and the other surveys are approved and preserved.

Multiple Marriage: In case of multiple marriage, two options are considered: a) if the women who are married to the same man are all living in the same house, then only one survey is conducted for the household; b) if each woman is living separately form the other, then each household is interviewed separately;

Sample for the Statistical Analysis

Factors related to sample selection:

1. The data collection was undertaken over a period of one year, which meant that the number of households and individuals have changed between the time of the data collection and the time of analysis and production of this report.
2. Many families who were assessed in Beddawi Camp or in Jabal Beddawi, where assessed a second time, since they have moved to NBC Adjacent Area, when the assessment reached NBC Adjacent Area; these families were identified and only their latest information were kept in the database.
3. Mobility is higher for IDPs moving out of Jabal El-Beddawi towards NBC Adjacent Area, where as Beddawi camp shows a lesser degree of mobility (Beddawi to NBC Adjacent Area).
4. Many families are still moving to North Lebanon, more specifically to Beddawi camp and surrounding areas, waiting for their turn to get back to NBC.
5. Several families in Jabal El-Beddawi have witnessed an increase in rent prices and consequently have left towards Beddawi Camp seeking cheaper rent.

Based on these factors, Lebanon Support increased the sample from Beddawi camp to reflect the mobility towards it, and lessened the sample size from Jabal El-Beddawi, while leaving the sample size in NBC the same.

The total sample represents about 84% of the actual number of population in the assigned areas. The number represents the percentage of the population that have the most consistent data over time (i.e. their situation have not changed considerably between the time of the survey and the time of analysis)

Moreover the representation of the sample within each area is also sufficient to provide a solid overview of their situation, where the sample size compared to the current actual population number of each area is higher than 70%.

I - Executive Summary

A. Introduction

This report aims to provide statistical and analytical tools for the recovery community working in North Lebanon, specifically those working with the Nahr El-Bared displaced and returnee population. the information will allow for better assessment of current needs and gaps, which will eventually support the development of appropriate strategies of intervention on both the short and long term.

The report highlights persistent vulnerabilities, which are not a direct cause of the Nahr El- Bared crisis, but have contributed considerably to the general trend of slow recovery. Knowing that Nahr el Bared’s community is still in the recovery phase since autonomy and economic self sufficiency haven’t been achieved.

The situation of ongoing displacement and the prevalence of temporary rather than permanent residence. Add to that minimal economic activity, and restricted business exchange levels within the Nahr El-Bared Adjacent Area, indicate that the situation, although seemingly stable, is still fragile and is yet to recover.

The stability of the situation is based on: 1) the continuation of emergency interventions (rent subsidy program, construction of temporary housing, food distribution); 2) the start-up of recovery activities in NBC Adjacent Area (Livelihood projects, re-establishing major services (water, electricity, etc...)); 3) and community solidarity;

The fragility of the situation is characterized by several factors, which can be grouped into two main categories:

A) Current factors: 1) emergency interventions, which are guaranteeing surface stability, can at any moment encounter funding shortages and consequent termination; 2) access to the NBC Adjacent Area is still limited; 3) economic activity indicators show prevalence of temporary or short-term jobs; 4) shortage in funding needed for reconstruction and economic rehabilitation which have delayed these two processes.

B) Pre-Existent factors: 1) lack of basic human and civil rights for the Palestinian community in Lebanon; 2) concentration of poverty and deprivation in North Lebanon area in general (including NBC and Beddawi Camps); 3) lack of rights to ownership/property and employment, are major determining factors to limited recovery performance; 4) recurrence of violence in North Lebanon, in a generally fragile political situation.

This delicate balance between stability and vulnerability requires from the recovery community and policy makers to intervene on different levels. Hence, interventions should be focused on guaranteeing stability, while at the same time working on reducing pre-existent vulnerabilities, which could considerably enhance recovery performance and provide the population with better coping capacities and mechanisms.

Within this framework, the Nahr El-Bared statistical report lists the major trends and findings that best describe the situation and the conditions of the Nahr El-Bared population after more than two years of the end of crisis.

B. Key Trends and Findings

The report is divided into eight main sections, which are considered to be the most relevant to the recovery community in Nahr El-Bared, and are salient to development actors and policy makers.

1. Displacement and Return:

a. At the beginning of the crisis, most of the Nahr El-Bared families displaced to Beddawi Camp and its neighboring areas, this showed that community solidarity with the affected population was to a degree restricted to the Palestinian community, rather than being spread into both the Lebanese and Palestinian communities in the North of Lebanon.

b. The provision of temporary shelter by the various interveners, more specifically the UNRWA rent subsidy program managed to stabilize to a certain degree the mobility of the displaced population.

c. Moreover shelter provision has over time considerably reduced crowdedness, which was the main characteristic of shelter conditions in the early phase of displacement.

d. The opening of the NBC Adjacent Area was a trigger for many families displaced outside the North, to return back, as it became a buffer zone for NBC families, while waiting to return to their homes in the camp.

e. The delay in the reconstruction process, has exacerbated the general feeling of insecurity and fear of the future. And it created a new category within the population those lingering between displacement and return, this group will be called in this report “Semi-Returnees”.

f. Limitations on access and mobility imposed on the Palestinian community, in and out of NBC are considerable contributers to the heightening of feelings of insecurity and instability among the population.

2. Demographic Composition of the Nahr El-Bared Population:

a. The male to female ratio of the Nahr El-Bared population is approximately 1 to 1 for both displaced and returnees

b. The Nahr El-Bared community generally has a high birth rate and low mortality

c. The average NBC family size is 4.93 members

d. There is no data to indicate whether the prevalence of new 2 member families will lead in the near future to either an increase or a decrease in family size.
e. The whole population of NBC is almost entirely living within a nuclear family unit residence. There isn’t a significant number of individuals leading an independent life outside this unit.

This could be related to the fact that services available to the Palestinian community are delivered on a family or household basis. Thus economic and social independence and access to services for youth is perceived to be guaranteed only through young marriages.

f. Early Marriage: there are no accurate figures of marriages of persons below 18 years before the crisis. But current figures show that 2.02% of recently married individuals are under 18 years of age. 95.8% of those individuals are girls while 4.16% are boys; showing a prevalence of early marriage for girls far larger than that of boys.

3. Shelter Characteristics:

a. The majority of the population is living in residences under or equal to the 10m2 per person average (49.95% in NBC Adjacent Area, 39.67% in Jabal El-Beddawi and 58.09% in Beddawi Camp)

b. Yet people who live in Jabal El-Beddawi and NBC Adjacent Area are relatively the most vulnerable in terms of crowdedness index (26.32% in NBC Adjacent Area and 21.73% in Jabal El-Beddawi are living under the 5m2 per person average).

c. Crowdedness over access to house facilities (bathrooms and kitchens) is highest in Beddawi camp and in Jabal El-Beddawi, which could be related to high occurrence of residence-sharing between displaced families compared to a lower level in semi-returned and returned families. (7.98 and 6.25 Persons per Bathroom, and, 9.59 and 8.47 persons per kitchen are the overall rates for families living in Jabal El-Beddawi and Beddawi Camp respectively)

d. The type of residence is different between the areas: apartments, garages and shops are more frequent in Jabal El-Beddawi, while houses are more frequent in Beddawi camp with a smaller number of apartments. NBC Adjacent Area has a more balanced distribution between apartments, houses and UNRWA temporary units (PLOTs).
Yet it is important to mention that there is no clear differentiation between “House” and “Apartment”, the only visible difference, is that “Houses”, are smaller buildings with higher construction density and Apartments are buildings, which are present in a more visibly independent constructions. These definitions reflect a rather popular cultural and historical interpretation of the development and transformation of the camp construction fabric.

4. Access and Costs of Services:

a. State Electricity (EDL) coverage is different between regions, the majority of returnees and semi-returnees in NBC Adjacent Area receive between 10 and 14 hours a day of electricity coverage, while in Beddawi camp and Jabal El-Beddawi, the majority of displaced families receive between 14 and 18 hours a day.

b. State Electricity (EDL) costs per month also vary between areas, displaced families in Beddawi camp pay the least for electricity while displaced families in Jabal El-Beddawi, and, semi-returnees and returnees in NBC Adjacent Area pay a higher monthly bill.

c. 49% and 42% respectively of the displaced population in Jabal El-Beddawi and Beddawi Camp buy drinking water.

5. Health Characteristics:

a. The majority of PwDs in the NBC community have a mobility related disability.

b. PwDs form 5% and 3.45% of the total displaced population in Jabal El-Beddawi and Beddawi Camp respectively; while among the semi-returned and returned population they form 3.8% of the total population.

c. About 14.5% of the population suffers at least from one chronic disease, the most prevalent chronic diseases are hypertension and heart related diseases.

6. Characteristics of Education:

a. School enrollment rate is at its lowest averages for people below the age of 4 and those above the age of 25, while it is highest for people between the ages of 4 and 25; although about a third of those between the ages of 4 and 25 are not enrolled in any type of educational facility.

b. 11.52% of the population is illiterate,

c. 78% of those who attend intermediate education do not attend secondary education.

d. Female enrollment is lower than male enrollment in primary and university education, while it is higher in intermediate and secondary education

e. Female illiteracy is 2.6% higher than male illiteracy.

7. Work and Employment:

a. The working population among the displaced in Beddawi Camp, has dropped by 30% as a result of the war.

b. Owners of businesses were the most affected in the war, as they have recorded the highest decrease in their numbers after the war, while daily labor has considerably increased as a result of the war.

c. The majority of the working population is paid less than the National Minimum Wage, and as a result of the war, the number of those who fall within the extremely low-income category has considerably increased.

d. The bulk of female labour is in unpaid-labor “house work”.

e. Female labor participation is very low and stands at 5.62%, income disparities between men and women is quite high. The majority of working women before the war got paid less than 300,000 LBP while the majority of men got paid above 300,000 LBP.

f. Income levels dropped considerably for those who have finished primary and secondary education levels, while it dropped slightly for those who have university degrees.

8. The situation of small and medium businesses in NBC Adjacent Area:

a. Almost the totality of owners of businesses are men, and most of them are between 25 and 60 years of age.

b. Most businesses have zero employment level i.e. operated solely by their owners, and employment levels are considerably low, less than 11% of businesses employ 3 or more workers.

c. The majority of workers in these businesses get paid less than 450,000 LBP per month

d. Less than 20% of businesses surveyed mentioned that they have received grants.

e. The highest rated obstacles to business growth are security checkpoints and lack of capital and supplies.

f. Due to the limitation on mobility, businesses have relocated and are more concentrated in the camps surrounding areas rather than within NBC which was the case before June 2007. This requires a re-assessment of livelihood strategies and developing a rather comprehensive and balanced strategy for recovery between the camp businesses and the businesses in the surrounding Lebanese areas.

C. Conclusions and Recommendations

Need to achieve basic human and civil rights

The reports findings show that the war has severely and negatively impacted the lives of Nahr el Bared’s residents in addition to emphasizing their vulnerabilities. Yet it revealed more rooted vulnerabilities related to the status of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and the volatile socio-economic conditions they live.

Thus it is highly important for the recovery community in NBC to adopt strategies that would seek remedies for the direct impacts of the war, but also aim to reduce the existing vulnerability factors, acting more specifically on achieving basic human rights and civil rights for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.

Need to achieve better economic rehabilitation

Army checkpoints and mobility limitations are having a considerable role in limiting recovery performance, and are contributing to the migration of the economic activity to the outside of the camp. This could create unbalanced economic competition between Lebanese and Palestinian run-businesses, hence affect negatively efforts aiming at reducing communal tensions between the two communities.

The outburst in daily labor and the drop in sustainable income generating activities are having a negative effect on the recovery potential of sections of the NBC community.
The limited research and analysis conducted on market needs and potentials in Nahr El-Bared and North Lebanon as a whole is limiting the growth of businesses, a large proportions of businesses is concentrated in the retail sector, and does not generate employment, which could have a stagnating effect on economic activity and limits economic growth.

One of the most important issues that the recovery community needs to resolve is to boost the levels of employment, thus enabling a healthier business cycle, and allows a better flow of income within the NBC community.
A faster reconstruction process could be a significant incentive for faster recovery among the NBC population and could widely contribute to reduce current insecurities, which are widely present among the community.

Need to enhance access and quality of education

Education seemingly suffers from major obstacles, as drop out rates are very high in secondary and higher education, and there is a high lack of accessibility to pre-school education.
The reasons behind the high drop out rates is related to several factors, the most prevalent are education quality and access to jobs; the latter can be observed in the type of jobs offered by the market and through labor participation levels; while the first needs to be studied more thoroughly since assessments on the quality of education in UNRWA schools are not available to really be able to identify the problems and the possible solutions that could implemented to remedy such deficiencies.

Need for better focus on women status and issues

Women status, vulnerabilities and issues should be targeted and adressed, since the gap between men and women on different levels is significantly high, and women are suffering from highly restricted access to social and economic independence.

II - Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon

A. Historical Overview

In 1948, one hundred thousand Palestinians fled from Palestine to Lebanon, where “temporary” camps were established to provide them shelter. More than half a century later, around 450,000 Palestinians refugees are still living in Lebanon. “Though insecurity is an outstanding feature of Palestinian life in most places where they live (...), yet their situation in Lebanon is unique in degree of political, economic and social exclusion”.¹ Today, most of the refugees live in camps that are still precarious settlements even if they have become more like permanent neighborhoods, or live in clusters of Palestinian homes outside the camps, in what is called “gatherings”.

An unpublished survey done by the Norwegian research institute FAFO in 1999, showed that the rate of unemployment in the camps is around 17%; Rosemary Sayigh² noticed that “most from the generation that came to maturity after 1982 have never done work for which they were trained”, the same point was made by Ziad, an engineer living in Burj El-Barajneh Camp: «My father had no education, and he was able to feed the family well, even to provide me and my brothers with higher education. As an engineer, I cannot even afford to live in a proper place, or to marry».³

Another main characteristic of employment in Palestinian camps is that of casual labor.⁴ Lebanon Support through an assessment done on the Nahr el Bared community (IDP Database, 2008-2009), noticed that 31.6% of people who have declared working, occupy casual jobs, mainly daily jobs; while on the National Lebanese level, the same category occupies a 13.0% of the total working Lebanese. The situation in other camps is not very different, and one common sentence repeated by many community figures describes the situation as follows: “Unemployment is the norm in Palestinian camps, while employment is the exception to the rule”

“Adding to the plight of Palestinians are Lebanon immigration policies, which classify all Palestinians as foreigners and not citizens (...); The Lebanese Government does not provide health services to Palestinian refugees, who rely on the UNRWA and UNRWA-contracted hospitals.”⁵ In 2001 the Lebanese Parliament enacted a law that prohibited Palestinian refugees from owning property in the country. Under the new legislation, Palestinians may not purchase property and those who already own property will not be allowed to pass it on to their children.

After more than sixty years of forced migration, the Palestinian population in Lebanon still suffers from harsh social, economic and legislative exclusion, and camps and gatherings have become pockets of extreme poverty dubbed with high distress and fear of the future.

i. Who is a Palestinian refugee?

Under UNRWA’s operational definition, Palestine refugees are persons whose normal place of residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948 and who lost both their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict. UNRWA’s services are available to all those living within its area of operations and who meet this definition, who are registered with the Agency and who need assistance. The descendants of the original Palestine Refugees are also eligible for registration. When the agency became operational in 1950, it was responding to the needs of about 750,000 Palestine refugees. Today, 4.6 million Palestine refugees are eligible for UNRWA services.

ii. The Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon are typically divided into three groups:⁶

1. Registered refugees: This group consists of refugees registered by both UNRWA and the Lebanese authorities. According to UNRWA statistics of March 2005 this group constitute 100,000 households with a total of 400,000 people. 53 % (224,000) of these live in the 12 UNRWA camps while the remaining (176,000) live in gatherings or are scattered in the Lebanese community. One should however be aware that a large number of Palestinian refugees remain registered with UNRWA in spite of living permanently abroad - this often in order not to loose their legal rights as internationally recognised refugees. Some estimates therefore go as low as 250,000 Palestinian refugees actually present in Lebanon.

2. Non- registered refugees: Refugees who fall under this group are not registered by UNRWA because they left Palestine after 1948, took refugee outside UNRWA areas of operation or were not in need. Originally, UNRWA was only providing services to registered refugees, but has since 2004, extended the service to non- registered refugees also. This group is estimated to 35,000 people.

3. Non- identified or non- ID refugees: This group of refugees is not registered by any authority in Lebanon and do not possess any valid documents acknowledging their legal existence. Thus they are not entitled to any services provided by UNRWA or Lebanese authorities. Organizations like Palestinian Red Crescent Society also provide some services. The non- ID refugees cannot leave the gatherings and camps due to potential legal persecution. The number of non- ID refugees is estimated to 3,000 (DRC, 2005). In official camps UNRWA is providing education, health care, and infrastructure, including shelter, water and sanitation.

   UNRWA also provides health and educational services to refugees living in gatherings. Due to the legal aspect of land ownership, UNRWA, however, cannot always provide infrastructure such as shelter and water and sanitation assistance outside the camps.

iii. Distribution of Palestinian Camps and Gatherings in Lebanon

There are currently 12 official Palestinian camps⁷ in Lebanon.

In addition to camps, a considerable number of the palestinian population is distrbuted in 39 Gatherings⁸ all over Lebanon.

It is important to mention that the numbers of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon as a whole or in individual camps or gatherings are not completely accurate and differ between sources; this is mainly due to the lack of efficient refugee registration systems, thus the reader will encounter several discrepancies as most of these numbers are still considered as estimates, and the above listed tables are not exhaustive.

III - Nahr El-Bared Crisis

The Nahr el Bared Camp was established in 1948 by the ICRC, as a result of the forced deportation of Palestinians from historical Palestine. With time the camp has extended from its original area to what is commonly known as the “new camp”, this extension came as a response to the natural growth of the Palestinian community of Nahr el Bared. Thus it is important to mention that the Old Camp and the New Camp are an extension of the same social fabric and structure.

Nahr el Bared Camp had a major economic significance to North Lebanon; it is situated between Tripoli, the second largest city in Lebanon, the agricultural plains of Akkar, and is also situated along the highway leading towards the Lebanese-Syrian Borders of Abdeh.

Nahr el Bared Camp had a major economic significance to North Lebanon; it is situated between Tripoli, the second largest city in Lebanon, the agricultural plains of Akkar, and is also situated along the highway leading towards the Lebanese-Syrian Borders of Abdeh.

The camp is a major provider of Labour force, in construction, and agriculture, for the surrounding Lebanese areas. Also the camp developed, through time, as a major market and hosted several manufacturing industries especially furniture manufacturing. In summary Nahr el Bared Camp was one of the main commercial hubs of the Akkar area.

On the 20th of May, 2007 clashes started between the Lebanese Army and Fateh el Islam, which lasted about 105 days and ended by September 2007, the clashes claimed the lives of at least 340 people, at least 48 of them are civilians, 163 militaries and 222 fighters.⁹

The clashes has affected directly about 36,000 people, (27,000¹⁰ Palestinian refuges inside the camp and about 9,000 Lebanese nationals from the areas adjacent to the Nahr el Bared Camp (Mouhammara, Bebnine)).

The general effects of the clashes in NBC are drastically and tragically enormous, the Old Camp was completely destroyed and levelled to the ground by heavy bombardment.

“Nearly 6,000 residential and commercial units were damaged or destroyed. Even for building which have not been fully demolished, their structural integrity is at risk. (...) Also at least 433 small enterprises–especially single-family artisans, shopkeepers–were also totally or partially destroyed by the heavy bombing and rocket explosions. (...) 3 hospitals and 4 clinics requiring either reconstruction or extensive repair, and over 15 schools, mainly, kindergarten, destroyed or damaged.”¹¹

All the residents of the Nahr el Bared camp were forcefully displaced, the majority of them went to Beddawi Camp and its surrounding areas, while others sought refuge with their extended families in other camps in Lebanon. It was not until October and November 2007 that families started to return to Nahr el Bared,

By February 2008, only 20% of families have returned to the Adjacent Area (the New Camp) and by June 2009, around 56% of families have returned to the Adjacent Area, while the old camp has been levelled to the ground and reconstruction is still in its very early phases.¹²

IV - Displacement and Return

In June 2007, almost the totality of the Nahr el Bared population have fled the camp to seek refuge and safety. In this section of the report we will delineate the main trends of displacement and return. These trends are necessary when considering contingency planning within the context of Palestinian camps in Lebanon.

Due to the context of the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, and more particularly the context of Nahr el Bared camp, it appears that we could not consider families who have returned to Nahr el Bared Camp Adjacent Area (New Camp) as returnees, unless they have returned to their actual homes; since the Adjacent Area is being used as a buffer zone, a waiting station, where the families would be provided temporary shelter units until their homes are reconstructed. Thus in this section and throughout the whole report we will be using an additional term of Semi-Returnee in addition to Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) and Returnee.

UNDP defines Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) as: “persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized State border.”¹³ This definition applied to the Nahr el Bared context would lead us to consider anyone who are still displaced outside the Nahr el Bared Camp (whether old camp or adjacent area) as an IDP.

As for Returnees the commonly used definition is: “persons who have returned to their home or habitual place of residence, esp. after a prolonged absence” thus this term can be used for families who have returned back to their actual homes in Nahr el Bared Camp and Adjacent Area.

Semi-Returnees: “persons or families who have moved back to the Nahr el Bared Camp and Adjacent Area but have not returned to their own homes yet, meaning they are hosted in temporary shelters in Nahr el Bared adjacent area.”¹⁴

In addition to this, it is also important to compare displacement trends with the types of shelter IDPs used, since in most cases the priority regarding return was linked to the shelter type of the displaced families (e.g. people occupying schools and NGO centers were considered as priority when the return process started to the Adjacent Area); moreover the type of shelter people occupy in the Adjacent Area is central in determining their status, as mentioned in the above listed definitions.

A. Patterns of Displacement and Returns

By June 2007, almost the totality of the Nahr el Bared residents had left the camp, and a clear majority of them took refuge in North Lebanon (82.68% of displaced families) mainly distributed between Beddawi Camp (44.9%), Jabal El Beddawi (17.42%), and Tripoli (20.36%); while the rest of the country (Beirut, South Lebanon and Bekaa) hosted 17.32% of displaced families.

80.72% of the total displaced population was received in host-homes , and 19.28% were living in collective centers, UNRWA and Lebanese schools. The latter category became the priority population to be moved back to the Adjacent Area when it was opened to the public in October 2007.

Families who went back to the Nahr el Bared Adjacent Area, were either hosted in their own homes, or within specifically constructed temporary shelter units (e.g. UNRWA Plots), or within collective centers (e.g. El-Akki Buildings) which were rented by UNRWA for this purpose, or to apartments rented by the families and covered by the UNRWA rent subsidy program.

By February 2008, the rent subsidy program covered the rent for about 52.84% (inside and outside of the Nahr el Bared Adjacent Area) of displaced families, while UNRWA collective centers and the UNRWA plots in the Adjacent Area hosted about 8.96% of families; while UNRWA schools in Beddawi hosted 6.53% of families and families who were still being hosted by host-homes constituted 13.46%.

Going back to the global picture, the figures showed by February 2008, that some 1,264 families had returned to the Nahr el Bared Adjacent Area (constituting 23.12% of the total population) while Beddawi Camp continued to host about 34.66% and Jabal El-Beddawi hosted 16.32%, Tripoli 18.77% and the rest of the country hosted 7.13% of the total number of families.

Comparing between June 2007 and February 2008, we notice a considerable drop (67.24%) in the number of families living in host-homes and a drop of 14.27% in the number of families living in Schools and Collective centers.

These changes in shelter conditions/or types are mainly related to the launching of the rent subsidy program which had a quick effect in shaping shelter conditions for a substantial number of displaced families, in addition to the temporary units constructed by UNRWA in the NBC Adjacent Area. In practice the UNRWA plots primarily hosted IDPs that were living in Schools and Collective centers, while the rent subsidies program targeted those living in host homes and minimized the possible negative effects of long displacement on the host population of Beddawi camp by either providing cash to host families in the form of rent, or by allowing displaced families to rent their own separate apartment.

The opening of the Adjacent Areas, triggered the mobility towards North Lebanon as a buffer zone for displaced families before returning back to NBC, thus we notice that in February 2008, that Beirut, Saida, Tyre and Bekaa witnessed a drop in the number of Displaced families, as many families preferred to go back to North Lebanon as they wait for their turn to go back to NBC.

By February 2009, around 2075 families were hosted in the NBC Adjacent Area, a 64.16% increase compared to February 2008, while Beddawi Camp hosted 1032 families, a 45.54% decrease compared to February 2008. Moreover we witnessed a decrease of the number of families in Beirut, Tyr and Bekaa, while we witnessed at the same time an increase of the number of families in Jabal el Beddawi and Tripoli, which proves the previous observation about North Lebanon becoming a buffer zone for the Nahr el Bared IDPs, waiting their turn to go back to NBC.

By the time of writing of the report (June 2009), the number of families in Nahr el Bared adjacent area has reached 3052 (55.58%) families, and was continually increasing as more temporary shelters were being provided and as services are more and more being centralized in NBC. Beddawi camp at that same date hosted 1009 (18.45%) families, while Jabal el Beddawi Camp has 964 (17.63%) families, and Tripoli hosts 184 (3.36%) families, and the rest of Lebanon host 258 (4.71%) families.

Out of the 3052 families in NBC Adjacent Area, 28.80% (879 families) are living in their own homes, i.e. they have gained the status of Actual Returnees. Thus the global rate of Actual Returnees is 16.07%.

2173 have returned to the Nahr el Bared Adjacent Area but not to their actual homes, i.e. they are living in the UNRWA plots, rented apartments, collective centers and others.

Based on these conditions they are to be considered Semi-Returnees and they make 71.19% of the families currently living in NBC Adjacent Area, and globally they constitute 39.74% of the total number of NBC families. Lastly there are still 2415 families living outside NBC, thus they are considered displaced or IDPs, and they constitute globally 44.17% of the total number of NBC families.

V - Demographic Composition

At the beginning of the crisis, the most common figure used as the number of Nahr El- Bared residents was 31,000. Yet the results and findings of numerous surveys and mappings, especially that of the IDP and Returnee Database, proved that the actual number of residents of the Nahr El-Bared camp is actually about 27,000 people relative to 5,467 families . The discrepancy in figures is mostly related to the lack of effective mobility monitoring systems that can keep track of the population movement, as many families have left the camp in the past years, and are either living in other camps, or in Lebanese cities, or are currently living abroad.

Yet it is important to mention that many camp officials and key-community figures are still using the figure of 31,000 as the number of the Palestinian community of Nahr El Bared camp. The usage of this figure comes out of fear that the families who have left the country to live abroad be restricted entry to Lebanon, if they decide to return back to NBC or other Palestinian camps in Lebanon.

Family size:

For the NBC IDPs living in Beddawi Camp, the mean family size is 4.76 +/- 2.61 members, with the most frequent families being composed of two individuals (19.33%).

As for the NBC IDPs living in Jabal el Beddawi, The mean family size is 4.9 +/- 2.51 members, with most frequent families being composed of two individuals (16.46%).

As for the semi-returnees and returnees in Nahr el Bared Adjacent Area, the mean family size is 4.95 +/- 2.69 members, with most frequent families being composed of two individuals (17.47%).

The above findings show that Nahr el Bared families share approximately the same frequency of family size in all the three assessed regions, which basically corroborates these findings. In general the average family size of NBC families is 4.93 members per family, with the most frequent family size being families composed of 2 members. Families with only 2 members may be considered as “newly wed couples”, which suggests that these new families will soon bare children, thus it would be important to mention, that if these new families are excluded from the above listed graphs we can notice that the highest frequency is for families with 4 and 5 family members.

Age and Sex Characteristics:

As shown in the below graphic, the age distribution of the Nahr el Bared IDP population in Beddawi camp represent a population of a high birth rate, and low elderly mortality, and a sex ratio of almost 1 to 1. (M: 50.04%; F: 49.95 %).

The average age of the Beddawi IDPs is 27.16 years with a Standard Deviation of 18.52 years and a difference between males and females ages (M= 26.20 +/-17.79; F= 28.13 +/- 19.18).

As for IDPs living in Jabal el Beddawi, similarly to those living in Beddawi camp they represent a population with a high birth rate, and low elderly mortality, and a sex ratio showing an almost 1:1 equilibrium between both sexes (M: 49.44%; F: 50.56%).

The average age of the Jabal el Beddawi IDPs is 27.14 years with a Standard Deviation of 18.56 years and no difference between males and females ages (M=26.29 +/-18.05; F=27.97 +/- 19.01).

As for the returnees and semi-returnees in Nahr El Bared Adjacent Area, validates the previous age and sex composition showing a high birth rate and low elderly mortality, the sex ration being almost 1 to 1. (M: 50.26%; F: 49.74 %).

The average age of the NBC Returnees and Semi-Returnees is 25.93 years with a Standard Deviation of 19.51 years and no difference between males and females ages (M=25.40 +/-18.86; F=25.98+/- 19.23).

Early Marriage:

A random sample of 1420 (25.9% of Total Number of Families) families with 7197 individuals was selected out of all regions. Within this sample, there are 2375 individuals who declared themselves married, and 48 of them are under 18 years of age, i.e. we can consider that the rate of early marriage is that of 2.02%. Yet it is important to differentiate between Male and Female early marriage, as out of the total number of early married individuals, 46 out 48 are girls, and only 2 out of 48 are boys. This means that early marriage for girls constitute 95.8% of early marriages, while for boys it is 4.16%.

Civil Status:

For the NBC IDPs living in Beddawi Camp, the majority of individuals are single (61.20%). Married individuals constitute 35.24%. while the widowed and divorced constitute 3.28% and 0.28% respectively. Moreover almost the totality of individuals (97.41%) declared being living with family, while 1.92% are living abroad, and 0.55% are living alone.

For the NBC IDPs living in Jabal El-Beddawi, the majority of individuals are single (60.93%). Married individuals constitute 36.09%, while the widowed and divorced constitute 2.82% and 0.16% respectively. Moreover almost the totality of individuals (97.04%) declared living with family, while 2.40% are living abroad, and 0.40% are living alone.

For the NBC population living in Nahr El-Bared Adjacent Area, the majority of individuals are single (62.29%). Married individuals constitute 34.73%, while the widowed and divorced constitute 2.52% and 0.46% respectively. Moreover almost the totality of individuals (97.86%) declared being living with family, while 1.07% are living abroad, and 0.78% are living alone.

VI - Shelter Characteristics

A. NBC IDPs in Beddawi Camp

The majority (89%) of the displaced population was a resident of the old camp while 11% was of the new camp.

The majority of NBC IDPs in Beddawi Camp (61.12%) are living in a house, 34.79% are living in an apartment, while a minority (4.09%) is living in garages.

Almost the totality (98.9%) of the surveyed population are living in rented accommodation while the rest 1% were living free of charge. But not all those who live in a rented apartment are receiving rent subsidies, as only 82% declared receiving rent subsidies. Yet it is important to mention that in the time of Beddawi Camp survey, rent subsidies had not yet reached all of the families who are currently receiving rent subsidies.

Shelter space varied from 7m2 to 200m2, with the highest percentage of shelters’ space (37.53%) being between 51 and 80 m2.