Photo: General view of Ain al-Hilwe
436,154 Palestinian refugees have been registered in Lebanon by the 1st January, 2012, according to the UNRWA , which represents 10% of the total population of the country. They live in 12 refugee camps settled in the country. Tatreez project will be implemented in 3 of these camps, the most populated and conflictive: Ain al-Hilwe (in Saida), Rashidieh (in Tyre) and Beddawi (in Tripoli).
Ain al-Hilwe
(also Ein El Helwe, Ein al-Hilweh) is the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon with over 70,000 refugees, located West of Mieh Mieh Village and Mieh Mieh Camp, Southeast of the port city of Sidon and North of Darb Es Sim village. Ein el-Hillweh was established near the city of Sidon in 1948 by the International Committee of the Red Cross to accommodate refugees from Amqa, Saffourieh, Shaab, Taitaba, Manshieh, al-Simireh, al-Nahr, al-Sofsaf, Hitten, Ras al-Ahmar, al-Tiereh and Tarshiha in northern Palestine.
The Ain Al-Hilweh Camp is located on land that is owned by landowners from Mieh Mieh village, Darb Es Sim, and Sidon Because Lebanese Armed Forces are not allowed to enter the camp Ain al-Hilweh has been called a “zone of unlaw” by the Lebanese media.
Beddawi
It is located in the high region which is in front of Tripoli city. It has two entrances, one southward from the Al-qobi region and the other northward from Beddawi city. It was established in 1955 in 1 km2. It is 120m above sea level and about 5 km north of Tripoli city. The camp is divided into four sectors. In the Beddawi camp, the population doubled after the destruction of the adjacent Naher El Bared camp by the Lebanese army in 2007. 27,000 refugees fled and abandoned their houses, which resulted in the population of Beddawi suddenly increasing from 15,000 to 30,000 inhabitants in the course of a day.
Rashidieh
Rashidieh was established in 1963 near of the city of Tyre. It is the second largest refugee camp in Lebanon with almost 25.000 inhabitants.