Housing conditions in Palestinian refugee camps are dire. Dilapidated dwellings are overcrowded, and the camps often lack basic infrastructure such as roads or sanitation services. During times of crisis, the camps frequently experience prolonged power outages, and in some of them, when winter rains arrive, sewage floods the houses.
Palestinian refugees consider themselves “owners” of the housing units they reside in; however, Lebanese law prohibits refugees from owning property in Lebanon, so they are technically “occupants.” Without the right to property ownership, Palestinian refugees are denied the right to transfer property inheritance.
Approximately a quarter of families lack heating, and most homes suffer from high humidity and water leaks. To compound the already precarious living conditions, there are low levels of ventilation and a lack of natural light. However, overcrowding is the major issue, with nearly half of the families having more than four people sleeping in the same room. Additionally, most families rely on bottled water as the primary source for drinking and cooking. Another significant statistic is that about two-thirds of families do not own any means of transportation.
Agreements between UNRWA and host countries have set the boundaries of these camps, and residents can only build within those boundaries. As more people arrive or the population naturally increases, new homes can be erected, but only in already overcrowded spaces.
In Lebanon, Palestinian refugees are not allowed to repair or build new properties, even within the camps. This means that if their homes are damaged or if facilities such as schools need repairs, it is illegal to fix them. Even when a repair intervention on a school is authorized, the Lebanese police enforce repeated checks and requests for verification of permission to carry out that specific work.
The number of refugees has doubled since 1948, now estimated at 483,375 people according to UNRWA statistics. However, these numbers are declining due to permanent migration from the camps. Currently, 280,000 people reside in 12 officially registered camps, while the remainder live in various residential communities established outside these camps, such as Al-Ma’shuq, Shabreha, and Al-Qasimia.
Lack of Access to Medical Care and Medications
Palestinian refugees have limited access to medicines and pharmaceuticals and suffer from inadequate nutrition and poor hygiene.
Malnutrition is a problem in all Palestinian refugee camps, regardless of their location, and stunted growth is the main obstacle to the normal development of a child. The camps regularly face severe shortages of medical supplies and medications. International organizations and UNRWA provide healthcare assistance to all Palestinian refugee camps, but many Palestinian refugees often have to seek healthcare elsewhere, which may not be provided by humanitarian organizations and can be rather expensive. This means that families often have to make difficult decisions: if more than one child is sick, only one of them can receive treatment.
A study by the University of Beirut and UNRWA revealed that when a Palestinian family lives in extreme poverty, they are twice as likely to have a family member with some form of disability. These families are also much more likely to have a member with a chronic illness. A terrible cycle. Dilapidated housing and poor hygiene lead to diseases and health problems that create financial difficulties for families and push them deeper into poverty.
The Employment Situation of Palestinian Refugees
The unemployment rate among Palestinian refugees is staggering. In Lebanon, 56% of Palestinian refugees are unemployed. Most Palestinian refugees live on the equivalent of 6 dollars per day.
About 50% of the population only have the minimum skills necessary for employment. Another 10% have never attended school. The situation is particularly dire for Palestinian refugees who have arrived from Syria. In Lebanon, only 38% of working-age Palestinian refugees are employed. Although nine out of ten Palestinian refugees were born in Lebanon, they are treated as foreign workers. Consequently, expensive permits are required to work, which few employers are willing to pay for. Palestinian refugees are prohibited from holding certain professions including law, engineering, and medicine.
Competition for available jobs has become even fiercer since the Syrian crisis brought 2 million Syrian refugees fleeing to Lebanon. Syrian refugees, desperate to support their families, are often willing to work for wages below the minimum or even “under the table”.
As a result, it is difficult for Palestinian refugees to find employment other than humble jobs with very low wages in sectors such as sanitation services, agriculture, and construction. Palestinian refugee women, on the other hand, find employment as nannies, nurses, or domestic workers.
Inadequate Education for Youth and Children
Another serious problem in Palestinian refugee camps is the lack of access to adequate education. UNRWA provides educational resources to half a million children in various Palestinian refugee camps, and local organizations like Makani, with which Give a Drop – ODV has established collaborative ties for support and development projects, offer additional resources. However, these resources are often insufficient and do not always provide young Palestinians with the skills they will need to find employment in the future.
Schools in the camps are overcrowded. More than two-thirds of schools operated by both UNRWA and the Ministry of Education operate on double shifts. This reduces the amount of time students can devote to core subjects and basic learning. In addition to overcrowded classrooms, there is not enough time to reinforce what students learn, support students with learning difficulties, or provide extracurricular activities.
Another obstacle to education in Lebanon is the ongoing electricity interruptions. When electricity is unavailable for months or limited to a few hours a day, this affects students’ ability to focus on their studies.
Palestinians cannot access Lebanese public schools. This means they must be educated in one of the schools operated by UNRWA or in private schools, which are beyond the financial means of almost all Palestinian refugees. Schools in refugee camps are often dilapidated. Palestinian refugees are not allowed to repair any buildings, including schools, so the structures are destined for inevitable structural decay.
The overall dropout rate is about 25% among children over the age of six, with most dropouts over the age of 18. Children who graduate from secondary school do not pursue higher education either because of inaccessible costs or because they feel they will not be able to find employment after school. Due to difficulties in accessing Lebanese public schools for Palestinians, dropout rates in Lebanon are higher than in Jordan, the West Bank, and Gaza.
Many factors contribute to the high dropout rate in Lebanon: poverty, the need to support one’s family, poor education, and restrictions on professional jobs in Lebanon.