Lebanon unveils plan for rebuilding Palestinian camp

Beirut – The Lebanese government launched
a preliminary master plan on 12 February to rebuild Nahr El-Bared
Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon, destroyed in a battle
last year between the army and militant Islamists.

Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said losses from the battle were great on
all levels. “As we release the preliminary plan, we look to the Arab
and international communities to meet us with the necessary assurances
and funding to ensure its success,” he told reporters at a news
conference in Beirut.

The plan focuses on the “old camp” – the original square kilometer
of camp which comes under the jurisdiction of the UN Palestinian
refugee agency, UNRWA, and was pulverized during the fighting.

At least 169 soldiers, 287 insurgents and 47 civilians were killed
in the battle between the army and Islamic militant group Fatah
al-Islam ( pictured) in 2007. The fighting also ruined infrastructure
and forced the camp’s 40,000 residents to flee, most of them to a
neighboring camp. Destruction of Nahr El-Bared’s “new camp” area, which
is outside UNRWA jurisdiction, was also severe, though less total.

Siniora said 1,500 families had now returned to the new camp.

The fighting broke out on 20 May 2007 when the police raided a
suspected hideout linked to the group, and Fatah al-Islam fighters
overran an army checkpoint in bloody retaliation.

UNRWA Commissioner-General Karen Abu Zayd told the news conference
the rebuilding of Nahr El-Bared would be the largest project ever
undertaken by the agency and that the master plan was an important tool
to rally international funding.

Aim to rebuild camp by 2010

Although the plan has yet to be finalized and released, a summary
presented at the conference said rebuilding should be completed by
August 2010 and put the cost at US$173 million. It aims to preserve the
social fabric of the old camp by retaining its original areas, which
are named after the Palestinians’ villages of origin, now in northern
Israel.

AbuZayd said it could be months before rebuilding started. The army
needs to finish removing unexploded ordnance from the old camp,
although some refugee families are being allowed back for the first
time into de-mined areas of the old camp to retrieve any documents or
valuables they can from beneath the rubble. Next comes the
rubble-removal stage, which could last for months.

“We will not only reconstruct the old camp, but also make it a
better environment in which our architectural plans ensure that people
have access to daylight no matter where they live; there will be
ventilation where there was no ventilation before; and we will create
open spaces for the benefit of the population, especially the children,
while also keeping in mind the legitimate security concerns of the
Lebanese army and government,” Abu Zayd said.

Siniora said the Nahr El-Bared crisis presented an opportunity for the state to extend its authority over the camp.

Security in Lebanon’s 12 official refugee camps, home to just over
half the country’s 400,000 Palestinians, has been left to Palestinian
factions since the Cairo Agreement of 1969, with the army forbidden
from crossing camp boundaries.

Nahr El-Bared’s Lebanese neighbors will also be compensated for any
losses owing to the 16 weeks of fighting, and helped to rebuild,
Siniora said, adding that the state had begun mapping their needs with
UN agencies and international donors. This would help to restore
harmony between Palestinian and Lebanese residents of the area,
enabling more refugees to return to their houses.

Nahr El-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon, destroyed
in a battle last year between the army and Fatah al Islam terrorists

Sources: IRIN, Ya Libnan