Published : 31-12-2022
UNRWA voiced its firm condemnation of all attempts to force Palestinian refugees in Lebanon back to Syria.
Lebanon’s Supreme Council had ruled that migrants who illegally entered the country after April 24, 2019 be deported to the countries which they came from.
In a rally held on October 20 outside of UNRWA office in Lebanon, Palestinian refugees handed over a memorandum to UNRWA’s director in Lebanon demanding urgent action regarding the refoulement decision and calling for international protection for Palestinian asylum seekers fleeing war-stricken zones.
UNRWA reiterated that forced deportation stands in contrast to international human rights and humanitarian laws.
AGPS is deeply alarmed by the dire situation of Palestine refugees in Lebanon and the precariousness in which they live, particularly in the last year of acute financial crisis and pandemic. Many Palestine refugees live in 12 overcrowded camps across the country.
The most vulnerable, including Palestine refugees who fled from Syria, do not get financial assistance to buy food and other basic necessities. With the current financial crisis, most Palestine refugees have found themselves slipping further into destitution.
The “dollar crisis” in Lebanon, where the official exchange rate of the US dollar against the Lebanese pound is nearly ten times lower than the black-market rate, has seen the purchasing power of the UNRWA cash assistance slashed tenfold.
Even before the pandemic and the financial meltdown of Lebanon, Palestine refugees lived in poverty and faced systemic restrictions that limited their employment, property ownership and, at times, movement. Joblessness has been high in Palestine refugee camps for many years, but the collapse of the Lebanese economy in the last few months has left many of them feeling desperate, especially as UNRWA has been struggling with an acute financial crisis itself. COVID-19 has been the latest in a series of recent devastating blows to a community that has suffered marginalization and uncertainty for decades.
UNRWA voiced its firm condemnation of all attempts to force Palestinian refugees in Lebanon back to Syria.
Lebanon’s Supreme Council had ruled that migrants who illegally entered the country after April 24, 2019 be deported to the countries which they came from.
In a rally held on October 20 outside of UNRWA office in Lebanon, Palestinian refugees handed over a memorandum to UNRWA’s director in Lebanon demanding urgent action regarding the refoulement decision and calling for international protection for Palestinian asylum seekers fleeing war-stricken zones.
UNRWA reiterated that forced deportation stands in contrast to international human rights and humanitarian laws.
AGPS is deeply alarmed by the dire situation of Palestine refugees in Lebanon and the precariousness in which they live, particularly in the last year of acute financial crisis and pandemic. Many Palestine refugees live in 12 overcrowded camps across the country.
The most vulnerable, including Palestine refugees who fled from Syria, do not get financial assistance to buy food and other basic necessities. With the current financial crisis, most Palestine refugees have found themselves slipping further into destitution.
The “dollar crisis” in Lebanon, where the official exchange rate of the US dollar against the Lebanese pound is nearly ten times lower than the black-market rate, has seen the purchasing power of the UNRWA cash assistance slashed tenfold.
Even before the pandemic and the financial meltdown of Lebanon, Palestine refugees lived in poverty and faced systemic restrictions that limited their employment, property ownership and, at times, movement. Joblessness has been high in Palestine refugee camps for many years, but the collapse of the Lebanese economy in the last few months has left many of them feeling desperate, especially as UNRWA has been struggling with an acute financial crisis itself. COVID-19 has been the latest in a series of recent devastating blows to a community that has suffered marginalization and uncertainty for decades.
