Thursday, November 26, 2009

Refugees remain skeptical of Nahr al-Bared reconstruction


Ray Smith, Electronic Lebanon, 26 November 2009

"NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon (IPS) - More than two years after their refugee camp was destroyed in a war between the Lebanese army and the Islamist militant group Fatah al-Islam, Nahr al-Bared refugees Wednesday witnessed the start of the camp's reconstruction. Their relief is mixed with skepticism, however......

Access to Nahr al-Bared's outskirts as well as to the construction site is still controlled by the Lebanese army.

Amr Saededine, a journalist closely following developments in Nahr al-Bared points to the army as a big obstacle to the reconstruction process. "The army interferes in anything. Nahr al-Bared was declared a military zone. But this here is a civilian area, not an army base!".....

The funding for Nahr al-Bared's reconstruction is yet another open question. As for now, UNRWA has only been able to raise about a third of the 328 million dollars required. Last week, representatives of about a dozen donor organizations visited Nahr al-Bared. UNRWA officials have recently expressed their optimism that the beginning of the reconstruction and the forming of the new Lebanese government will attract more funding.

As a result of the army's siege of the camp and the destruction of its businesses, unemployment has drastically spread in Nahr al-Bared......"

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