In a 1999 news report, The Washington Times referred to the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp in Lebanon as "a nightmare of jury-rigged housing, lightless alleys, faltering electricity and ceaseless noise" (17 Oct. 1999). The report added that

The homes [in the camp] are dusty in summer, muddy in winter and have tin roofs that trap heat. Floors are dirt or damp concrete, and plumbing is minimal.

Nuclear families once lived in these two- to five-room dwellings but today cousins, grown children, their wives, and now grandchildren have crammed in as well. Families have expanded their homes into alleys, enclosed courtyards and even colonized the roofs.

...

UNRWA [United Nations Relief and Works Agency] medics ... say the tight quarters, bad sanitation and constant damp have created near epidemics of pneumonia and tuberculosis and sometimes lice (The Washington Times 17 Oct. 1999).

According to UNRWA, the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp is "very overcrowded and the infrastructure is poor" (30 June 2002). The agency also indicates that

Although all shelters have indoor water mains, these are linked to a very inadequate water supply which is pumped from a ground source. All shelters are connected to a sewerage system which discharges untreated sewage into the sea (UNRWA 30 June 2002).

As of 30 June 2002, the camp was equipped with one UNRWA health centre, which saw an average of 414 patients per day; there were seven UNRWA elementary schools with a registered student body of 5,202, one community-managed women's centre, one youth centre, one kindergarten teacher teaching French to 31 students and two community-run rehabilitation centres for refugees with disabilities (ibid.).

According to the World Refugee Survey 2003 issued by the U.S. Committee for Refugees (USCR), Palestinian refugee camps are "characterized by overcrowding and unemployment" (USCR 2003). The report also stated that "[d]windling international assistance and draconian Lebanese restrictions had a negative impact on the living conditions for Palestinian refugees" (ibid.). In addition, government restrictions on building in and around the camps "forc[es] many refugees to live in overcrowded, unsanitary, and substandard housing" (ibid.), an observation that the USCR has made in its annual reports of 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002.

However, according to information on the official Website of the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp, an increased emigration rate between 1990 and 2001 out of the camp and into the Arabian Gulf, Europe and America, resulted in significant development to the camp as emigrants sent money back to their families still residing in the camp (Nahr el-Bared n.d.a). The Website also indicates that

... the camp was provided ... with Internet in the late 2000. And besides the old shops and stores which were only for selling food substances, vegetables and clothing, the camp today contains different kinds of shops and stores, like restaurants, butcheries, exchanges, pharmacies ... and some factories of wood, aluminium, ice cream ...

... the camp [has] become today like a trading center with respect to the near towns. And as a result of the refugees' interest in education, there are many educated persons in the camp like doctors, engineers, lawyers and pharmacists (ibid.).

The Nahr el-Bared Refugee camp Website is part of the Across Borders Project (ABP), which was launched in 1999 at the Dheisheh camp in Bethlehem by the Information Technology Unit at Birzeit University (ibid. n.d.b). Managed by the Association Najdeh-"a Lebanese NGO that works in and around the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon"-the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp Website is "the fifth link in what is to become a worldwide network, linking all Palestinian refugee camps in the Middle East" (ibid.).

According to the Nahr el-Bared camp Website, the following are local political organizations that exist or have a presence in the camp:

- Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fateh),

- Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP),

- Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP),

- Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine General Command,

- Palestinian Liberation Front,

- Arab Liberation Front,

- Palestinian Socialist Party,

- Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement,

- Islamic Resistance Movement - Hamas,

- Vanguard for the Popular Liberation War, Thundarbolt Forces and

- Palestinian Popular Struggle Front (PSF) (n.d.c).

While not naming specific groups, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2002 estimated that "17 Palestinian factions operated in [Lebanon] and were generally organized around prominent individuals" (31 Mar. 2003, Sec. 3). The report added that "[m]ost Palestinians lived in refugee camps controlled by one or more factions" (Country Reports 2003 31 Mar. 2003, Sec. 3), statements that were repeated in the 1999 (Country Reports 1999 23 Feb. 2000, Sec. 3), 2000 (Country Reports 2000 23 Feb. 2001, Sec. 3) and 2001 reports (Country Reports 2001 4 Mar. 2002, Sec. 3).

The International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT), in Israel, contends that the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp is one of the "main power bases" for Usbat al-Answar, "a loosely organized Sunni group espousing the same Wahhabi ideology as al-Qaida" (ICT 20 Jan. 2003). According to ICT, Usbat al-Ansar "consists of both Palestinian and Lebanese members, many of whom have fought in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya and Kashmir" (ibid.). Corroborating information was published in the January 2002 issue of the Middle East Journal (1 Jan. 2002) and in Jane's Terrorism and Security Monitor in October 2001 (18 Oct. 2001).

The Middle East Journal reported that the United States has identified Usbat al-Ansar as being "closely linked to al Qaeda" and added the group to its blacklist of 27 target organizations (Middle East Journal 1 Jan. 2002).

Information on forced recruitment in the Nahr el-Bared camp by Palestinian organizations could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate; however, The Washington Times reported in 1999 that Hezbollah "finds a steady supply of angry new recruits" in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon (17 Oct. 1999).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2002. 31 March 2003. United States Department of State. Washington, DC. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2002/18281.htm [Accessed 14 Aug. 2003]

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2001. 4 March 2002. United States Department of State. Washington, DC. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2001/8270.htm [Accessed 14 Aug. 2003]

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2000. 23 February 2001. United States Department of State. Washington, DC. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2000/nea/800.htm [Accessed 14 Aug. 2003]

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1999. 23 February 2000. United States Department of State. Washington, DC. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/1999/420.htm [Accessed 14 Aug. 2003]

International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT). 20 January 2003. Yael Shahar. "Al-Qaida's Links to Iranian Security Services." http://www.ict.org.il/articles/articledet.cfm?articleid=460 [Accessed 14 Aug. 2003]

Jane's Terrorism and Security Monitor [Surrey, UK]. 18 October 2001. "The Suspects - Usbat al-Ansar: A Dark Horse on the Blacklist." http://jtsm.janes.com/ [Accessed 14 Aug. 2003]

Middle East Journal [Washington, DC]. 1 January 2002. Neil Barnett. "The Plot Thickens." (Dialog)

Nahr el-Bared Camp Website. n.d.a. "History of Nahr El Bared Camp: 1990-2001." http://www.nahrelbared.org/english/history/hiscamp/camp6.htm [Accessed 8 Aug. 2003]

_____. n.d.b. "About Us." http://www.nahrelbared.org/english/aboutus/main.htm [Accessed 8 Aug. 2003]

_____. n.d.c. "Our Institutions." http://www.nahrelbared.org/english/institutions/politics/politics.htm [Accessed 8 Aug. 2003]

United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). 30 June 2002. "Nahr el-Bared Refugee Camp." http://www.un.org/unrwa/refugees/lebanon/nahrelbared.html [Accessed 14 Aug. 2003]

U.S. Committee for Refugees (USCR). 2003. World Refugee Survey 2003. http://www.refugees.org/world/countryrpt/mideast/2003/lebanon.cfm [Accessed 8 Aug. 2003]

_____. 2002. World Refugee Survey 2002. http://www.refugees.org/world/countryrpt/mideast/2002/lebanon.cfm [Accessed 8 Aug. 2003]

_____. 2001. World Refugee Survey 2001. http://www.refugees.org/world/countryrpt/mideast/2001/lebanon.htm [Accessed 8 Aug. 2003]

_____. 2000. World Refugee Survey 2000. http://www.refugees.org/world/countryrpt/mideast/2000/lebanon.htm [Accessed 8 Aug. 2003]

_____. 1999. World Refugee Survey 1999. http://www.refugees.org/world/countryrpt/mideast/1999/lebanon.htm [Accessed 8 Aug. 2003]

The Washington Times. 17 October 1999. Betsy Pisik. "Unwelcome Exiles: Millions of Palestinian Refugees Await Uncertain Future in Camps." (Dialog)

Additional Sources Consulted

IRB Databases

Dialog/WNC

Internet sites, including:

Al Bawaba

Amnesty International

Arabia.com

Arabic News

BBC

European Country of Origin Information Network

Freedom House

Human Rights Watch

Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)

International Crisis Group

Lebanon Wire

Middle East Intelligence Bulletin

Middle East Newsline

Middle East Times

The Middle East Research and Information Project

MidEast Web Gateway

Monday Morning [Beirut]

Nahr el-Bared Refugee Camp

Relief Web

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

Zawya

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