• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Wednesday, February 1, 2023
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home World Middle East

Lebanon Conducts First-Ever Census of Palestinian Refugees

Staff Writer with AFP by Staff Writer with AFP
12/21/17
in Middle East
Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.

Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. Photo: Mohammed Asad/APA

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

More than 174,000 Palestinian refugees live in Lebanon, authorities announced Thursday, in the first-ever census of its kind for a country where demographics have long been a sensitive subject.

The census was carried out by the government’s Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee in 12 Palestinian camps as well as 156 informal “gatherings” across the country.

The result of 174,422 Palestinian refugees is much lower than previous estimates of up to 500,000.

Palestinians began taking refuge in Lebanon with the creation of Israel in 1948, setting up camps that have since transformed into bustling, urban districts.

But their presence has long been a controversial in Lebanon, with many blaming it for the eruption of the bitter war that ravaged the country between 1975 and 1990.

Lebanon has not carried out a census of its own citizens since 1932, making the 2017 count even more remarkable.

It sheds light on the living conditions of 174,422 Palestinian refugees, as well as another 18,601 Palestinians who fled the neighbouring conflict in Syria to camps in Lebanon.

It found the population split evenly between men and women, but nearly half of the total are 24 or younger.

Around 7.2 percent are illiterate, but an impressive 93.6 percent of children aged between three to 13 were enrolled in schools. Around 18 percent of the workforce is unemployed.

Lebanon’s Palestinian camps suffer serious problems, with varying degrees of poverty, overcrowding, unemployment, poor housing conditions and lack of infrastructure.

Announcing the results, Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Lebanon had a “duty” towards Palestinians.

“Over the past decades, the social and humanitarian problems faced by Palestinian refugees have accumulated, and the reality in the camps has become tragic on all levels,” Mr. Hariri said at the Grand Serail.

But he insisted Lebanon would, under no circumstances, accept their naturalization.

Palestinian officials have also consistently rejected permanent resettlement in Lebanon because of their longstanding demand that those who fled or were forced out of their homes with the creation of Israel be granted the right of return.

The census result is much lower than the 469,331 people registered in Lebanon with the U.N.’s Palestinian refugee agency.

“UNRWA does not have a headcount of Palestinian refugees who are currently residing in Lebanon. What we have as an agency are official registration records for the number of registered Palestine refugees in Lebanon,” spokeswoman Huda Samra told AFP.

“If someone registered with UNRWA in Lebanon decided to live outside Lebanon, they don’t notify us,” she said.

ShareTweet
Staff Writer with AFP

Staff Writer with AFP

Related Posts

Nablus
Middle East

Palestinians Decry ‘Collective Punishment’ Over Israel’s Nablus Closure

by Staff Writer
October 27, 2022
Israel
Middle East

Palestinians Slam UK ‘Review’ of Israel Embassy Location

by Staff Writer
September 22, 2022
Ben & Jerry's
World

Court Denies Ben & Jerry’s Effort to Prevent Sales in Israeli Settlements

by Staff Writer
August 22, 2022
Israel
Middle East

Israel’s Occupation Main Cause of Conflict: UN Investigators Say

by Staff Writer
June 7, 2022
A Lebanese election official stands at a polling station
Opinion

New Group Threatens Lebanese Elections… and Potentially Middle East Peace

by Sara Harmouch
May 18, 2022
Israel
Middle East

15 European Nations Urge Israel to Reverse Plans for More Settler Homes

by Staff Writer
May 13, 2022
Next Post
Jerusalem

UN General Assembly Passes Resolution Rejecting US Jerusalem Move

Raul Castro to Step Down as Cuba’s President in April 2018

Raul Castro to Step Down as Cuba's President in April 2018

Recommended

A supporter of nurses' strike and NHS holds a placard

UK Faces Fresh Mass Strikes as Wage Talks Derail

February 1, 2023
Israeli security forces in Jerusalem

Palestinian Gunman Kills 7 in East Jerusalem Synagogue Attack

January 30, 2023
The Doomsday Clock reads 100 seconds to midnight, a decision made by The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, during an announcement at the National Press Club in Washington, DC on January 23, 2020

‘Doomsday Clock’ Moves Closest Ever to Midnight

January 25, 2023
Police work near the scene of a mass shooting in Monterey Park, California

California Lunar New Year Mass Shooter Dead, Motive Unclear: Police

January 23, 2023
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern

Race on To Replace Ardern as New Zealand Prime Minister

January 20, 2023
Pfizer logo and vaccines

Pfizer to Sell More Drugs at Cost to Poor Nations

January 18, 2023

Opinion

George Santos from the 3rd Congressional district of New York

George Santos for Speaker!

January 16, 2023
Commuters waiting for buses in Metro Manila. Philippines

Eight Billion and Counting…

November 29, 2022
Mahsa Amini protests

Imagining a Free Iran

October 24, 2022
Vladimir Putin

How 18th Century International Law Clarifies the Situation in Ukraine

September 29, 2022
Vladimir Putin

Falling for Putin

September 15, 2022
US President Donald Trump

Donald Trump Thanks You for Your Sacrifice

August 17, 2022
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post