Beirut, Lebanon
27 November 2014
The United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly welcomed today the collective effort of the Lebanese authorities and the Palestinian groups in the refugee camps in Lebanon to ensure security in the camps against the backdrop of the conflict in Syria and praised the generosity extended by camp residents to Palestine refugees who have come from Syria notwithstanding their own already difficult circumstances. The Special Coordinator was speaking during a visit to the Palestinian refugee camp of Burj Barajneh in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Mr. Plumbly was briefed by the interim Director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for the Near East (UNRWA) Heli Uusikyla, and UNRWA staff about the conditions in Burj Barajneh camp, including the difficulties facing the refugees in their daily lives and the growing needs resulting from the presence of additional Palestine refugees from Syria. Mr. Plumbly also met with representatives of the Popular Committees in the camp who explained to him the measures taken to maintain the camp’s stability and address the needs of the some 17,000 registered Palestinian refugees in the camp. The number of Palestine Refugees from Syria has fallen but the camp still hosts over 2,200 of them in addition to its normal population.
During his tour, the Special Coordinator visited an UNRWA health clinic that offers health services for camp residents and a refugee family living in a shelter in need of significant rehabilitation. “I have seen for myself the difficult conditions facing the refugees here, particularly at the beginning of the rainy winter season. The United Nations will continue to do all it can to encourage additional international donor assistance to meet the urgent day to day needs of the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon,” Mr. Plumbly said. The Special Coordinator also visited a Women’s Programme Center managed by a voluntary association of Palestinian women which offers training, recreational activities and support including in relation to job creation, and other services, to female beneficiaries from the camp.
The Special Coordinator looked forward to continued coordination between the United Nations, led by UNRWA, and Palestinian groups and the Lebanese authorities in helping to improve the conditions in Burj Barajneh and other Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.
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