On the outskirts of Lebanon’s second capital, Tripoli, lies a Palestinian refugee camp that is almost as old as their plight itself. The Al Biddawi camp for Palestine refugees was established in 1955 to host many of those who had been forcibly displaced from the Upper Galilee and northern coastal cities during what is known as the Palestinian Nakba, or catastrophe in Arabic. Since then, the camp’s population has ballooned as violence continued to haunt the stateless population, from the Lebanese civil war to the conflict in Syria, which resulted in a flood of Syrian and Palestinian refugees across the border into the tiny Mediterranean country.
The narrow and destitute streets are symbolic of the struggle to survive here. In this single square kilometre, more than 21,000 Palestinians live alongside many impoverished Lebanese citizens and Syrian refugees, according to the UN’s Palestinian relief agency, UNRWA. Ahmad* is an unemployed father of eight who suffers from several chronic illnesses. Despite the windows being blocked by other buildings in close proximity, they keep them open in an effort to ease the scorching heat. Ahmad said he often can’t find anyone to lend him money until some relief comes from UNRWA’s cash assistance. The agency provides him with $50 per child under 18 years of age every 12 weeks. UNRWA is the mark of the plight of Palestinian refugees. As long as there is a question of Palestinian refugees, UNRWA has to exist in parallel. At 67 years old, Abdul Sattar Hasan is the descendant of a refugee from the village of Sepphoris, located northwest of Nazareth, and has been coming to this health centre for over 22 years.
UNRWA is doing what it can to support the Palestinian population in the Al Biddawi camp and across the entire region, providing education, health, protection, and social services. If UNRWA disappeared tomorrow, there would be a catastrophe in this camp because we don’t have any other humanitarian actor that can provide the level of assistance that UNRWA is providing. The economic deterioration has led to a lack of work opportunities even for Lebanese citizens. The UNRWA official highlighted the battle of cancer patients, explaining that the agency covers 75 per cent of the cost of medication. Dr. Ghuniem stressed that the question of Palestinian refugees is what perpetuates the need for UNRWA to exist.
The camp’s only UNRWA-run health facility has 28 staff members, all of whom are Palestinian refugees themselves. It serves 400 to 500 patients daily, providing a wide array of services from dental and optical care to general medicine and specialised consultations. It is the mark of the Palestinian people’s suffering from harsh economic and living conditions. You get the feeling that employees here aren’t working to get a salary. They are working to deliver a message, and this is something that I respect and very much appreciate. The question of our refugee status since 1948 until today. It defends us and provides us with our basic needs until we can return to our land, God willing.
