Special Coordinator Kaag Transcript of Remarks to the Press at Ein El Hilweh Palestine Refugee Camp

SCL Sigrid Kaag visits Palestine refugee camp of Ein El-Hilweh (30 08 16)

SCL Sigrid Kaag visits Palestine refugee camp of Ein El-Hilweh (30 08 16)

30 Aug 2016

Special Coordinator Kaag Transcript of Remarks to the Press at Ein El Hilweh Palestine Refugee Camp

Beirut, Lebanon
Tuesday, 30 August 2016

I have wanted to visit Ein El-Hilweh for quite some time because it’s one of the important camps. 

It’s also a camp of course that has particular needs and requirements. We know that in Lebanon very often Ein El Hilweh is negatively in the news and this is not necessarily fair. The majority of the population of the camp are Palestine refugees. They want to go to school, they want to have good health services, they want to live in better conditions, and they want to have the opportunity to work. So it’s both the duty, responsibility but also the signal of appreciation and respect we have for the efforts by the camp committees to work closely with the Lebanese authorities, to work of course with UNRWA, to improve conditions in the camp, and also to make sure that the security conditions in the camp are improved, that it both benefits the Palestine refugees and of course benefits Lebanon’s overall stability and security. So it’s an important message. Secondly, it’s always important to see and hear from those responsible and students and families what they need and what more the UN –UNRWA in particular- but all of us should do to assist the Palestine refugees.
 
QUESTION: (Arabic) How do you view the handing over of some of the wanted individuals in the camp?

 SCL SIGRID KAAG: Of course I have regular conversations with General Abbas Ibrahim (Director of General Security) and General (Jean) Kahwaji (Lebanese Army Commander) on overall security challenges to Lebanon. I think the recent surrenders and the ongoing process is very good, is beneficial for stability, and it’s also an important signal that many cases, the more regular cases [inaudible] the law, the Lebanese law of course, and at the same time, the residents of the camp do not feel targeted. That we can separate what is criminal, what is terrorist and what is a general Palestine refugee who needs assistance and support. I think all of us, and I hear this very clearly today, there is a shared cause that is improvement of conditions, better living conditions, hope for the future and a total rejection of terrorism.

QUESTION: (inaudible)

SCL SIGRID KAAG: We are obviously in close coordination with UNRWA, with the General Commissioner of UNRWA, Mr. Pierre Krähenbühl, (UNRWA Representative in Lebanon) Mr. Mathias Schmale and myself, we continue to try to find not only necessary funds but also new funding to assist all Palestine refugees in Lebanon. You know this is actually not easy, sadly, there are many competing priorities. But it is important that the Palestine refugees not only do not feel forgotten but that they can also get the assistance that they require in the 21st century.

QUESTION: (inaudible)

SCL SIGRID KAAG: Never give up hope, work on yourselves, educate, educate, educate in waiting for better days.

 

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