UNRWA head calls for easing of camp security for Palestinians

The head of the United Nations Relief Works Agency said Friday he used his two-day visit to Lebanon to press the authorities to give Palestinians more job opportunities and greater mobility to and from the camps. Filippo Grandi told a news conference in UNRWA’s southern Beirut headquarters that he met with the Interior Minister as well as other government officials and asked them in “every meeting that I had” to ease the tight security control of the camps by the Lebanese military. Many people who live in the country’s 12 Palestinian refugee camps complain about overly tight security around the perimeters, making entering and exiting a burden. Security is particularly tight around the Nahr al-Bared camp, the site of several months of fighting in 2007 between Islamist militias and the Lebanese Army. Grandi also said he asked ministers to push forward legislation to increase job opportunities for Palestinians in the country. “This is very important because we can do infrastructure, we can do water, we can do health; but what really people need is better economic conditions, to be more self-reliant so they can improve their living conditions,” Grandi said. Grandi also touched on a number of other major issues faced by Palestinians in Lebanon. The reconstruction of the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp was moving along at a promising pace, Grandi said. He added that a new bloc of the northern camp is set to be reopened, which will allow around 4,000 Palestinians to return to their homes. “I remember when Nahr al-Bared was destroyed – we are coming near the fifth anniversary of that event,” said Grandi. He said camp residents told him at the time that they didn’t believe the camp could be reconstructed. “And here we are, at least the reconstruction is under way, I think we should be a little bit satisfied about that,” Grandi said. “Our operations continue; they have continued throughout the last year, which was a difficult one for the country and its people,” he said. “I think everyone understands this is a humanitarian issue which should not be caught up in politics.” Grandi also said the organization was facing a $65 million shortfall in funding for its core budget, which he found worrying. He said the U.S. and Saudi Arabia are the largest donors to the organization, and expected a Saudi donation to fill the gap soon.