4 August 2017
Palestinian refugees, displaced from their homes in Palestine since the ‘Nakba’ of 1948, are one of the largest and longest-displaced refugee populations in the world. Lebanon is currently home to 450,000 Palestinian refugees, many of whom live in 12 camps across the country, where they face restrictions to their basic civil rights, and limited opportunities for work and education.
Since Syria’s civil war began in 2011, these communities have been joined by approximately 32,000 additional Palestinian refugees who have fled the conflict. A 2015 study by the American University of Beirut and UNRWA found that 89% of these double-refugees are living in poverty. For those needing medical care, the cost of lifesaving treatments such as heart or cancer operations, can be prohibitively expensive.
Thanks to the UN OCHA Lebanon Humanitarian Fund, MAP has partnered with UNRWA to help ensure that Palestinian refugees from Syria can access vital lifesaving care.
Last year, this funding helped 106 Palestinian refugees from Syria. MAP’s team in Lebanon spoke to one individual, Khalil*, who underwent lifesaving surgery thanks to this support:
Khalil is one of thousands of Palestinian refugees from Syria who has experienced displacement, loss, and distress. Khalil is a mechanical engineer, a writer, and a poet who used to live with his wife and seven children in one of the Palestinian camps in Aleppo, Syria.
When the war in Aleppo intensified six years ago, Khalil took his daughters and fled to Lebanon. He wanted to protect them because crimes like rape, torture and murder were becoming widespread in Syria. His wife and one of his three sons joined them in Lebanon shortly afterwards.
Khalil did not have relatives in Lebanon, but knew Beirut well. When he and his daughters arrived they rented a spacious apartment in one of the Palestinian camps in Beirut. Khalil was surprised by the conditions of the camps and the refugees in Lebanon. It didn’t take long for him to understand the factors that led to this dire situation.
“Palestinians here are treated as second or third class residents; they are discriminated against, marginalised and excluded from almost everything,” said Khalil. He felt that, although life in Syria before the war was not always easy, both Syrians and Palestinians were treated equally –experiencing the same comforts and challenges.
With the increased demand for housing caused by the influx of refugees from Syria, rent fees multiplied in Lebanon, especially in the impoverished and overcrowded Palestinian camps. Khalil and his family were forced to leave their house after the landlord asked him to pay $400 instead of the $140 initially agreed monthly rental fee.
Khalil and his family moved into a poorly ventilated two-roomed apartment for $250 a month. “I empathise with the local camp residents who suddenly found themselves having to pay much more for the same houses they have been renting for years or to move to substandard houses in the same camp,” Khalil added, understanding of the concerns of the local Palestinian refugees who have found themselves in competition for the few resources available with those arriving from Syria.
Khalil searched hard, unsuccessfully, for a job as an engineer, and instead found work as an electrician. He was happy to do this, as he needed money because the assistance the family was getting from UNRWA and Najdeh Association was barely enough to pay the rent. Khalil’s family’s financial situation deteriorated when his health worsened.
In early 2017, Khalil lost consciousness and was rushed to the hospital. After undergoing the necessary diagnostic tests, Khalil was told that his three main coronary arteries, which supply the heart with blood, were almost completely blocked, and that he needed urgent surgical intervention. Two surgeries were conducted with the support of MAP and UNRWA, through the grant received from the Lebanon Humanitarian Fund.
“The two surgeries cost $7,000 - an amount that would have been impossible for me to pay out of my pocket,” said Khalil. Today, Khalil is recovering well and has a third surgery scheduled next month to open the third blocked artery.
Whilst Khalil was coping with ill health, additional responsibilities were falling on his shoulders. His daughter gave birth to baby girl, Lea. Lea’s father went missing in Syria and the family have not heard from him since he left less than a year ago. Khalil’s second daughter, Rola, suffers from schizophrenia and was receiving therapy and free medication from one of the INGOs running a Mental Health project in the camp. Two months ago, the project closed and Rola was left dependent on an expensive medication that her family cannot afford. Khalil is aware that his daughter will have a relapse if he does not secure her medication regularly, but, at the same time, is unable to afford an extra $100 per month. Khalil tried to get assistance from various charitable organisations working in the camp but was not successful. This is placing additional stress and anxiety on Khalil.
Khalil is now well-known in the camp as he often holds poetry reading sessions – which he thoroughly enjoys. He writes poetry about Palestine, freedom, and the right to dignified living. He also participates in Palestinian cultural events organised by the various local NGOs. When he first arrived in Lebanon, he noticed that a lot of the young people were not aware of many of the issues related to Palestine. He managed to obtain funding to reprint an old famous book about Palestine which he then distributed to schools, public libraries, and community centers. “Home for me is Palestine, not Syria or Lebanon. One cannot live in dignity outside his home land,” Khalil told us.
Khalil is not considering going back to Syria at the moment. In the past he was detained and imprisoned for many years because of his writings. “There is no freedom of speech and expression in Syria. I write to highlight the struggles of ordinary people; I don’t intend to hurt or criticise anyone,” Khalil explained. He is concerned that he will be imprisoned again if he returns, especially as he is known to be a free-thinker. Khalil noted with sadness how innocent people are being killed in Syria every day. His brother, who worked for an NGO, was killed by an air raid last year while distributing food aid to residents in a refugee camp. Khalil has struggled to come to terms with his brother’s death.
Khalil said that the war in Syria has overturned his life and separated his family. He had not seen four of his children in years. One of them lives in a village at the southern border of Lebanon, yet he is not able to visit due to his expired residency permit. Khalil and all his family members are not able to pay to renew their permits regularly and thus they stay inside the camp.
Khalil’s family are very grateful to MAP, UNRWA and the Lebanon Humanitarian Fund for helping Khalil to access lifesaving treatment and giving him dignified access to the medical care he so urgently needed. They also thanked MAP for the visit, the follow up, and for voicing their struggles and needs.
Read MAP’s report, If I Die Bury Me in Palestine, to find out more about the experience of Palestinian refugees from Syria.
* Names have been changed to protect identity
