In order to improve the living conditions of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, 22 NGOs have brought the "Palestine Camps Development and Improvement Campaign" to life.

The NGOs that launched improvement and development projects for the camps in Lebanon housing Palestinian refugees, whose population exceeds 500,000 and who are able to sustain their lives entirely through aid coming from outside, have started an aid campaign for their problems to be solved.

Refugees are struggling with poverty

There are a total of 475,000 Palestinian refugees in Lebanon registered with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). The refugees live in 12 separate camps that are extremely overcrowded, where unemployment and poverty levels are extremely high and technical and infrastructure facilities are inadequate. Since Palestinians are not granted refugee status by the Lebanese state, they continue their lives deprived of many social rights.

The Lebanese government's work concerning Palestinian refugees

Lebanon has neither signed the 1951 UN Refugee Convention nor recognized the refugee rights in the 1967 Protocol; the legal processes concerning Palestinians in the country are limited to domestic legal arrangements. Accordingly, Palestinian refugees are not granted the right of “citizenship” and, under a decision taken in 1962, they are regarded as a special foreign group “without documents from their own country and living in Lebanon”.

We are in the 72nd year of the forced expulsion and displacement of more than 700,000 Palestinians from their homes, villages and cities in the war that lasted a year in 1948 and resulted in the establishment of occupying Israel. More than 5 million Palestinians have for years been living in different countries, far from their homeland, under poor living conditions.

Palestinian refugees forced to live in different countries continue their lives deprived of many rights. In Lebanon, one of these countries, Palestinian refugees are not granted the right of “citizenship” and are regarded as a special foreign group. Palestinians in Lebanon cannot benefit from many opportunities such as work, health and education, and they also do not have the right to vote. The fields of work in which they may be employed are restricted.

Campaign Partners

Independent Industrialists and Businessmen Association (MÜSİAD), Confederation of Public Servants Trade Unions (Memur-Sen), Confederation of Turkish Real Trade Unions (Hak-İş), İHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation, Türkiye Diyanet Foundation, Aziz Mahmut Hüdayi Foundation, Sadakataşı Association, Technical Staff Association (TEKDER), Cihannüma Association, Deniz Feneri, Fetih Der, Umut Ol Association, International Doctors Association (AID), Yetim Foundation, International Refugee Rights Association, Health and Civilization Association, Darüleytam Association, Verenel Association, Hayat Yolu Association, Yedibaşak Association, International Water Well Association and UDEF (International Student Associations Federation).

Some of the projects planned to be carried out in the camps

1- Opening of Health Polyclinics
2- Education And Distance Education Projects
3- Income Generation Projects
4- Landscaping, Waste Collection And Recycling
5- Electrical Lighting Project For Homes
6- Home Renovation Project
7- Water Supply, Treatment And Renovation Of Water Networks
8- Renovation And Reorganization Of Electricity Networks
9- Food Distributions
10- Distributions Of Coronavirus Hygiene Packages And Health Equipment
11- Projects To Combat Drugs
12- Project For Supporting Religious Officials
13- Holy Qur'an Teaching And Memorization Programmes Project
14- Scholarship And Higher Education Abroad Projects For Palestinian Students