[The following report was issued by American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA) in April 2013.]
Palestinian Refugees from Syria in Lebanon
A Vulnerable Community
Following their expulsion from Palestine in 1948, many Palestinian intellectuals, businessmen, and craftspeople fled to Syria and established themselves as an integral part of Syrian society. Today that life has been broken and many Palestinian refugees from Syria have joined the ranks of Lebanon’s Palestinian refugees, who some call the “forgotten people.”
Living in dark, cramped rooms without heat, these refugees have no respite from the fresh memories of the Syrian war and the gnawing pain of hunger and cold. Having built a vibrant society in Syria, they have been forced to flee to unknown places where their future is uncertain. Their plight echoes the forced exile from Palestine that they, their parents or grandparents endured decades before.
85% of Palestinian refugees living in Yarmouk camp have fled the fighting in Damascus. Seeking shelter and aid in Turkey and Iraq meant tackling bureaucratic red tape. Jordan has been reluctant to let more than a few thousand Palestinian refugees gather in a camp along the border. Approximately 37,000 refugees are seeking whatever shelter and protection they can get in Lebanon’s camps, where conditions are dire.
Living in the crowded and impoverished Palestinian camps in Lebanon, Palestinian refugees from Syria are finding very few legal protections and employment possibilities. There has been much less international attention focused on this vulnerable sub-population than on the general Syrian refugee population. The United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) is struggling to meet their needs but remains under-funded and ill-prepared to deal with the large influx of refugees into the camps.
Living sometimes 20 or more people to a room, the newly arrived refugees worry most about paying rent and providing meals for their families. Nearly all of them have experienced trauma in the form of death in the family, physical violence, kidnapping, and home destruction. They wonder how much longer they must bear the indignity of exile and statelessness.
Life in Syria Before the Fighting
Before the outbreak of fighting, Syria was generally seen as providing the best conditions for Palestinian refugees among the countries in the Middle East.
Nearly 500,000 Palestinians were living within the state’s borders. A 1957 law allows Palestinians living in Syria the same duties and responsibilities as Syrian citizens apart from nationality and voting rights.Palestinians have the right to work and own businesses, and are granted universal access to education and health care. Access to these sectors contributed to the stability and prosperity of Palestinians in Syria, as evidenced by the fact that a high percentage of them had the financial means to move out of refugee camps and reside elsewhere in the country.
With the onset of Syria’s civil war, work opportunities decreased. Many refugees fleeing to Lebanon had already depleted much of their savings while still in Syria.
Many are startled by the sharp contrast in living standards from what they had enjoyed in Syria. They also have been surprised to discover that their Palestinian identity has become the most influential factor in determining access to proper safety, shelter and work.
Conditions in Lebanon
ANERA and the National Institute of Social Care and Vocational Training (NISCVT) conducted research and published a report in March 2013 that reveals a host of unmet basic needs among Palestinian refugees from Syria. They don’t have enough food. Diapers are too expensive. Their meager shelters are falling apart. In winter, they suffer from the cold.
The huge influx of refugees is also having a devastating effect on the housing, financial, and psychological capacities of the camps, where resources were already strained.
Livelihood
Palestinian refugees from Syria are finding that their money is not worth as much, since the exchange rate for Syrian pounds has plummeted and the cost of living in Lebanon is much higher than Syria. This problem is made worse by the lack of work opportunities open to them in Lebanon.
Palestinians from Syria do not have the right to employment in Lebanon as Syrian citizens do, nor do they have the decades-old experience of being migrant laborers in Lebanon like many Syrian citizens do. The result is they lack any economic lifeline in this crisis.
Unemployment is widespread among Palestinian families from Syria, regardless of age, gender, educational level, or previous employment status. More than 90% of the refugee families from Syria lack an income. They have to rely on the generosity of other poor refugees to sustain them.
Although not widely reported, child labor exists and families may resort to it as a means of survival in light of prolonged displacement and exhaustion of their financial sources.
Food
Hunger is a major issue for these families. Food is simply too expensive for most. Two-thirds of all families are not able to provide three meals a day.
Almost all families receive food aid from various sources, including host families and local and international organizations.
Housing
ANERA’s January 2013 survey shows that 74% of households interviewed are crowded with more than 10 people. To make things worse, almost 60% of all households are crammed into one room. Many families live without electricity, running water or proper heating. Large numbers of people share toilets and many have to leave their shelters to use facilities, raising the likelihood of illness.
Despite the terrible conditions, rents average between $150-$300/month. Families live in constant fear of losing their shelter because they cannot afford to keep paying.
Health Care
UNRWA is the main health care provider in Lebanon for Palestinians. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society, local organizations and private clinics are also extending their services to the refugees from Syria. These health care providers are overwhelmed by the dramatic increase in the number of patients without a proportionate increase in their organizational and financial capacities. This means that families are forced to pay out of their own pockets (when they can afford it) or, insome cases, refrain altogether from seeking care for their acute and chronic conditions.
Education
Many Palestinian children from Syria have witnessed horrible violence. Going back to school means a return to normal life for these children, but many resist enrollment efforts in Lebanon.
Curriculum differences and limited school capacity are the main reasons for non-enrollment. Integration into the Lebanese curriculum is difficult for most refugee children from Syria. Math and science courses are taught in Arabic in Syria, but in Lebanon the courses are taught in English or French at UNRWA schools.
Meeting the Challenges
UNRWA bears most of the burden of caring for Palestinian refugee families in Lebanon’s camps, but budget cuts and other constraints make it impossible for them to meet all of their needs. International foundations, institutions, non-profits and local community-based organizations are joining together to help bridge the gap during this crisis, providing:
- small-scale renovations of host family homes and distributions of food and non-food items to host families so they can continue sheltering Palestinian refugees from Syria.
- basic items like food, blankets, and clothing, with a special priority for newly-arrived Palestinian refugees from Syria.
- cash-for-rent support and income generation initiatives that are critical to reducing these families’ financial insecurity.
- additional support to UNRWA as the main health provider for Palestinians in Lebanon so it can expand its capacity and coverage.
- additional emphasis on remedial and informal education, so that refugee children from Syria can continue their schooling while in Lebanon.
Palestinian refugees from Syria are an especially vulnerable sub-population of the Syrian conflict. The effects of statelessness multiply the horrors for Palestinians with each new war and subsequent displacement. With so much destruction at home, they fear their displacement could become permanent. The international response to the Syrian conflict must also prioritize a political solution for Palestinian refugees so there is a sustainable and more prosperous future for all.
[Click here to download the full report, including graphs and charts visualizing much of the data contained above.]