CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VOLUME VIII (1) ContemporaryEurasia81 | Page 11

LILIT HARUTUNYAN
include information on domestic violence. Additional data can be found in
Lebanese newspaper articles on violence in the camps. 22
The PHRO report for the first five months of 2010 shows three types
of violence: the Lebanese authorities' violence, attacks on individuals and
property and violence between factions (see table 1). The large majority of
the incidents, about 84 % (62 out of 74 incidents), were in the Nahr al-Bared
camp in the north. 23
Type of violation
North South Beirut Total
Attack on individuals 2 5 2 9
Arbitrary arrests, torture and humiliation 16 - 1 17
Hindering mobility 11 - - 11
Violation due to discrimination against 1 1 - 2
Violations of the right to decent housing 11 - - 11
Violations of the right to education and 2 2 1 5
Violations of the right to health 24 19 - - 19
Total 62 8 4 74
refugee status
social care
Source: Palestinian Human Rights Organisation (PHRO), Report on
Violence, January-May 2010.
As the table shows, thirty out of seventy-four incidents of violence
(40% of the total violence in the refugee camps) were perpetrated by the
police and army intelligence. This violence is under-reported by the media.
The statistics indicated many arbitrary arrests and the obstruction of freedom
of movement for the refugee population. This is persisted by another PHRO
report 25 that shows a systematic pattern of violating Palestinians’ right to
unrestricted movement, especially in Ayn al-Hilweh and Nahr al-Bared
camps. This not only hinders individual mobility, but also business.
According to a recent Fafo survey 26 , the checkpoints at the camp perimeters
22
See Kortam, Marie, Jeune et violence dans le camp de Baddawi et le banlieu parisien, PhD
Thesis, University of Paris VII, Paris, (2011).
23
Palestinian Human Rights Organisation (PHRO), Report on Violence, January-May 2010.
24
This category includes all forms of medical malpractice and refusal by UNRWA to
subsidize medical treatment.
25
Palestinian Human Rights Organisation, Report on the Lebanese Restrictions on Freedom
of Movement: Case of Nahr al-Bared, November 2010.
26
Zhang Huafeng, Tiltnes Age A., “Socio-economic Assessment of Ein El-Hilweh Refugee
Camp”, Tabulation report, Fafo, December 2009.
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