Symbolic restart for shattered Nahr al-Bared

[Mosby]

NAHR AL-BARED: The symbolic rebuilding of a Palestinian refugee camp devastated by deadly battles between Islamists and the army in Lebanon 18 months ago began on Monday despite a major funds shortfall. Thousands of Palestinian refugees fled Nahr al-Bared north of Tripoli in the summer of 2007 from heavy clashes between the army and the Islamist militant group Fatah al-Islam that killed some 400 people including 168 soldiers.

Government representatives and Palestinian diplomats attended a foundation stone-laying ceremony hailed by UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) chief Karen AbuZayd as "a new beginning for the refugees whose homes and livelihoods were destroyed." UNRWA had appealed for $450 million for the rebuilding effort, which was scheduled to be completed in around three years, but so far only $120 million has been received.

AbuZayd said on Monday that because of the cash shortfall the project would permit the return of only a quarter of the 27,000 former residents now living outside the camp.

A "disappointing donor response" to the agency's Nahr al-Bared appeal "will allow us to construct only the first two of the eight phases envisaged for the project," she said, and urged donors to be "more forthcoming and generous."

"The refugees from Nahr al-Bared will remain in a state of displacement for months to come, living either in rented housing or temporary shelters UNRWA has built with the support of donors," AbuZayd said.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=99960

[UndertheOcean]

1. Why are palestinian refugees still in camps ?

it's been 50 years for pete's sake !

integrating them into the host nations does not mean forsaking their right of return.

[Behind the Aegis]

2. If they were integrated into the host nations, then they would be useless as pawns for the Arabs.