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The fighting, which saw the army using helicopters and heavy artillery, has left the seaside shantytown in tatters. (Reuters) |
BEDDAWI, Lebanon — For the Lebanese people and their army the end of a 15-week face-off with militants holed up in Nahr al-Bared is a case to celebrate but for Palestinian refugees it’s the beginning of another dark chapter of their lives.
"Sixty years of hard work have gone in smoke," Akram, a refugee who fled Nahr al-Bared the day the battle erupted on May 20, told Agence Frace-Presse (AFP) on Wednesday, September 5.
Like tens of thousands of fellow Palestinian refugees, Akram, an accountant who once made a decent living, had to seek shelter in the Beddawi camp some 10 kilometers to the south.
Today the 50-year-old finds himself and 10 members of his family living and sleeping in a room of about 50 square meters.
The army took full control of Nahr al-Bared on Sunday, September 2, ending more than three months of fierce fighting with Al-Qaeda-inspired Fatah al-Islam militants.
The fighting, which saw the army using helicopters and heavy artillery, has left the seaside shantytown in tatters.
Houses have been bombed-out, pockmarked with shell and bullet holes, and multi-storey buildings have collapsed into mangled piles concrete and rubble.
"There were big fortunes in the camp. It was a vital market, not only for the residents, but for all of Lebanon. Nothing could compensate for this loss," Akram lamented.
He does not believe Prime Minister Fuad Siniora who has called for an international donors' conference on September 10 in Beirut to secure aid for the reconstruction of the camp.
Angry
The Palestinian refugees remain in complete desperation, particularly that they do not seem to have any proper authority to turn to the ruined camp.
"We are happy that the army got rid of the rabble Fatah al-Islam, but would it have destroyed the camp like this if it was a Lebanese city?" wondered Saeed, a 40-year-old electrician.
He now lives with his wife and 10 children in a garage along one of the winding alleys covered with sewage in Beddawi.
His family sleeps in the garage on mattresses and a sofa offered by camp residents.
"At night, I send my eight sons to sleep at various places in the camp. We used to be all together, today we are all dispersed."
From time to time, charity associations offer them food, but in insufficient quantities.
"We cannot bear this situation for longer. Reconstruction should start immediately," Saeed said.
The United Nations Relief Works Agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said more than 500,000 cubic meters of rubble should be cleared from the camp before the reconstruction.
Asked if they would accept a government decision to keep the camp under Lebanese authority, Abu Mahmud said: "Maybe, but only if the army is ready to defend us, like it does for the Lebanese."
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