According to an article in the Middle East Research and Information Project's Press Information Notes, refugees in the Ein el-Hilweh camp are facing "unemployment, declining UNRWA services, discrimination and hopelessness," and "conditions in all the camps have greatly deteriorated in recent years" (1 Mar. 2000). Moqawama, the site for the Islamic Resistance Support Association, also stated, in January 2001, that refugees in the camp "live in makeshift houses, that lack proper sanitation in polluted narrow streets" and have limited access to jobs outside the camp (17 Jan. 2001). An August 2001 article in Middle East International quoted The Daily Star which stated that, aside from discriminatory labour laws, refugees at Ein el-Hilweh also faced non-expandable camp boundaries and building restrictions, which forced them to buy apartments or plots of land outside the camp (10 Aug. 2001). According to the article, refugees will no longer be able to do this due to an amendment to land ownership laws passed in Parliament in 2001: the revision forbids "anyone who does not have citizenship in a recognized state" from owning property (ibid).

According to the UK's Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND), the Ein el-Hilweh camp currently has 43,639 registered residents (Apr. 2002). Ein el-Hilweh is allegedly controlled by the Fatah, although other factions have a presence in the camp (ibid.). The IND's Country Assessment: Lebanon further states the following:

With the exception of Ein el-Hilweh, the camps in the central and northern regions of Lebanon are currently 'controlled' by pro-Syrian/anti-Arafat political organisations. However, the general political climate in the Middle East has become fluid (October 2000), and this could cause residents of the camps in Lebanon to switch their allegiance suddenly (ibid.).

On 2 March 2002, Moqawama referred to Arafat's Fatah as the "mainstream" faction within the Palestinian Liberation Organisation which organized a demonstration inside the Ein el-Hilweh camp. In a 21 July 2002 Agence France Presse (AFP) article posted on the Prolog Website, Fatah is called "the most powerful political force" in Ein el-Hilweh.

IslamOnline.net names Mounir Maqdah as the head of the armed local wing of the Fatah movement in Ein el-Hilweh camp (2 June 2002). According to an AFP article posted on the Business Day Website, Munir Maqdah is a Fatah official opposed to the Arafat-endorsed Oslo accords, who has links with both pro-Syrian and pro-Iranian Islamists (12 Feb. 2002).

A May 2002 AFP article reported that a Palestinian man belonging to no known group was shot dead in Ein el-Hilweh (22 May 2002). The article described the camp as "notorious for its lawlessness" (ibid.).

For general information on current conditions for Palestinians living in refugee camps in Lebanon, please consult the April 2002 Country Assessment: Lebanon of the UK's Immigration and Nationality Directorate.

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.

Agence France Presse (AFP). 21 July 2002. "Palestinian Refugees Rally for Arafat in Lebanon." http://www.ptdprolog.net/webnews/wed/dp/Qmideast-lebanon-arafat.Rl31_ClL.html [Accessed 24 July 2002]

_____. 22 May 2002. "Palestinian Killed in Refugee Camp in Southern Lebanon." (NEXIS)

_____. 12 February 2002. "'Historic' Arafat Has no Trouble Staying Relevant." http://www.bday.net/feb12/p04-121.htm [Accessed 25 July 2002]

IslamOnline.net. 2 June 2002. "Failed Attempt on Life of Fatah Chief in Lebanon." http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2002-06/02/article66.shtml [Accessed 24 July 2002]

Middle East International. 10 August 2001. Rosemary Sayigh. "No Work, No Space, No Future: Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon." http://www.arts.mcgill.ca/MEPP/PRRN/papers/sayigh2.html [Accessed 24 July 2002]

Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP). 1 March 2000. Rosemary Sayigh. Press Information Notes. "Greater Insecurity for Refugees in Lebanon." http://www.merip.org/pins/pin17.html [Accessed 24 July 2002]

Moqawama. 2 March 2002. "Palestinians [sic] Refugees in Lebanon Protest 'Israeli' 'Massacres.'" http://www.moqawama.org/archive/drep_2002/mar/0302.htm [Accessed 24 July 2002]

_____. 17 January 2001. "Lebanon's Palestinian Refugees Want to Return Home." http://www.moqawama.org/archive/drep_2001/jan_2001/dr_0117.htm [Accessed 24 July 2002]

United Kingdom, Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND), Home Office. April 2002. Country Assessment: Lebanon. http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/default.asp?PageId=603 [Accessed 25 July 2002]

Al-Ahram Weekly [Cairo]

IRB Databases

NEXIS

World News Connection (WNC)

Internet sites, including:

Amnesty International

BBC News

CNN.com

Daily Star [Beirut]

Human Rights Watch

Middle East Intelligence Bulletin (MEIB)

L'Orient Le Jour

Prolog

United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)