ELECTRONIC LEBANON
Human Rights/Development
Video: Nahr al-Bared "Two Years Under Siege"
a-films, Electronic Lebanon, 25 June 2009
Two years after it was destroyed in the wake of fighting between the Lebanese army and a militant group, the fate of the Palestinian refugee camp, Nahr al-Bared remains unclear. This 10-minute film, the co-owner of an ice cream factory, the president of the local traders committee and the imam of the al-Quds Mosque, all Palestinian refugees, speak about the siege and its economic consequences. [MORE]
Human Rights/Development
Nahr al-Bared's future remains unclear as army holds on to neighborhoods
Ray Smith, Electronic Lebanon, 19 June 2009
The three-month-long war between the Lebanese army and Fatah al-Islam militants in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared in northern Lebanon ended on 2 September 2007. While the Lebanese army has allowed displaced residents to return to some parts of the camp, the fate of other parts of the camp still under the army's control remains unclear. Ray Smith reports for Electronic Lebanon. [MORE]
Human Rights/Development
Video: Nahr al-Bared, "A Sip of Coffee"
a-films, Electronic Lebanon, 16 June 2009
This 26-minute film follows a father and his son in the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp as they attempt to deal with their unemployment. The two have been living in temporary metal shelters for more than a year, waiting to return to their camp. By documenting issues of reconstruction, temporary housing, economy, unemployment and despair, the film touches on the daily experience of life in Nahr al-Bared refugee camp. [MORE]
Human Rights/Development
No work in Nahr al-Bared camp
Ray Smith, Electronic Lebanon, 11 June 2009
Mohammad and Mahmoud sat on an idle field on the edge of the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared in northern Lebanon. While Mahmoud sang to the songs being played on his mobile phone, Mohammad used his for gaming. Mohammad looked up and explained, "We spend our days doing nothing. We get up and sit at the cafe for a few hours. Then we go home and pray. We gather again and return to the cafe. There we sit until the evening. Every day passes like this." Ray Smith reports on the dire economic conditions in Nahr al-Bared. [MORE]
Human Rights/Development
Women battle for citizenship rights
Matthew Cassel and Moeali Nayel, Electronic Lebanon, 9 June 2009
BEIRUT (IPS) - One can be born in Lebanon and live here all one's life, and still not be a Lebanese citizen. Lebanon is one of few remaining countries in the Middle East where a mother is unable to pass citizenship to her children. Campaigners have succeeded in securing that right in countries such as Egypt, which amended the law in 2004 to allow women to pass citizenship to their children, and in Algeria, which granted women full citizenship rights in 2005. In Lebanon the struggle continues. [MORE]
Human Rights/Development
Two years later, no reconstruction in Nahr al-Bared
Ray Smith, Electronic Lebanon, 20 May 2009
About two years ago, a battle broke out between the Lebanese army and the militant group Fatah al-Islam in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared in northern Lebanon. The summer-long battle concluded in September 2007 and the camp was totally destroyed -- the rubble indicating that the destruction was systematic, most likely committed by the Lebanese army. After several delays, the UN-mandated core of the camp, the so-called "old camp," has meanwhile been cleared of approximately 600,000 meters of rubble. Yet, reconstruction hasn't begun and residents are still unable to enter the old camp, the access of which is controlled by the Lebanese army, and displaced refugees are increasingly resentful. Ray Smith reports. [MORE]
Human Rights/Development
Palestinian refugees neglected in "gatherings"
Report, The Electronic Intifada, 19 May 2009
KAFR BADA, Lebanon (IRIN) - For the last 30 years Ali Mohammed Hindawi, aged 84, has lived alone in a rusty tin shack in south Lebanon, without water, electricity or a toilet, sleeping among chickens, flies and litter, and separated from his family by displacement and poverty. "What do I think about at night? I think about my situation, that this is not a life for me," said the frail old man, barely able to sit up after weathering another winter of freezing temperatures and downpours. [MORE]
Human Rights/Development
Funding cuts threaten cluster bomb demining
Report, Electronic Lebanon, 18 May 2009
BEIRUT (IRIN) - Deminers in south Lebanon clearing hundreds of thousands of unexploded Israeli-dropped cluster bomb submunitions will lose two-thirds of their teams this year unless a drastic funding shortfall is addressed. The shortfall could mean that the mostly agricultural land will not be cleared of deadly ordnance for eight years or more. [MORE]
Human Rights/Development
Fair deal for domestic workers?
Report, The Electronic Intifada, 17 April 2009
BEIRUT (IRIN) - Eighty Ethiopian women have been in Tripoli Women's Prison in north Lebanon for over a year, accused of not having a passport, which was either taken from them when they started as domestic workers or which they never had in the first place. Most were arrested on the street after running away from their employers -- usually because of abuses ranging from forced confinement and starvation to physical harm and rape. [MORE]
Human Rights/Development
Wretched conditions for Syrian workers
Report, The Electronic Intifada, 14 April 2009
BEIRUT (IRIN) - Rights and labor groups say almost all the estimated 300,000 Syrians working in Lebanon have no official status, often endure dangerous conditions, and earn about $300 a month doing jobs shunned by most Lebanese. In 2006, the Labor Ministry issued just 471 work permits to Syrian nationals, meaning the remainder worked unregistered. [MORE]
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