Most of the displaced refugees in Lebanon, approximately 6,000 families, are originally from these three camps. A fourth camp, Gouraud in Baalbeck, was evacuated many years ago and its inhabitants were transferred to Rashidieh camp in the Tyre area.
Today, all 12 official refugee camps in the Lebanon Field suffer from serious problems - no proper infrastructure, overcrowding, poverty and unemployment. The Lebanon Field has the highest percentage of Palestine refugees who are living in abject poverty and who are registered with the Agency's "special hardship" programme.
The number of Palestine refugees registered with UNRWA in Lebanon is currently 394,532, or an estimated 10 per cent of the population of Lebanon, a small country which is now quite densely populated.
Palestine refugees in Lebanon face specific problems. They do not have social and civil rights, and have very limited access to the government's public health or educational facilities and no access to public social services. The majority rely entirely on UNRWA as the sole provider of education, health and relief and social services. Considered as foreigners, Palestine refugees are prohibited by law from working in more than 70 trades and professions. This has led to a very high rate of unemployment amongst the refugee population.
Popular committees in the camps representing the refugees regularly discuss these problems with the Lebanese Government or with UNRWA officials, and they call for better living conditions for the refugees.
Name of camps and number of Registered refugees
Mar Elias camp ............612 refugees
Burj el-Barajneh camp...15,484 refugees
Dbayeh camp................4,002 refugees
Shatila camp.................8,212 refugees
Ein el-Hilweh camp .......45,004 refugees
Mieh Mieh camp............4,473 refugees
El-Buss camp..... ..........9,287 refugees
Rashidieh camp..... ......25,745 refugees
Burj el-Shemali camp....18,625 refugees
Nahr el-Bared camp......30,439 refugees
Beddawi camp..............15,641 refugees
Wavel camp.................7,551 refugees
Dikwaneh & Nabatieh (destroyed camps) .....16,282
+ 9,595 refugees distributed throughout the camps.
FACTS AND FIGURES ON TOTAL REFUGEE POPULATION
* Total registered refugees 394,532
* Registered camp population 223,956
* Official camps - 12
* Elementary and preparatory schools - 81
* Secondary schools - 5
* Enrolled pupils (2003/2004) 41,583
* Primary health care facilities - 25
* Refugees registered as special hardship cases - 46,235
* Number of UNRWA Field Office Area staff posts - 2,629
Sources: un.org/unrwa