Third Supplementary Report

Rights of the Palestinian Child in Lebanon

/ The Coordination Forum of NGOs Working Among The Palestinian Community in Lebanon

Beirut – Lebanon

This report was written by Dr. Aziza Khalidi, Samar El-Yassir

Cover illustration by Rania Mattar

Refugee Girl – Ain El Helweh Camp – Sidon- Lebanon 2003

Sweeping – Ain El Helweh Camp, Sidon Lebanon 2003

Slippers – Mar Elias Camp, Beirut, Lebanon 2003

Girl & baby – Burj El-Shemali Camp, Tyre, Lebanon 2004

Special Thanks to Norwegian People’s Aid and Save the Children-Sweden

For sponsoring and supporting the realization of this report.

Contents

Page
Overview / 3
Preliminary Notes / 3
General Measures of Implementation / 5
Definition of the Child / 5
General Principles / 6
Civil Rights and Freedoms / 7
Family Environment and Alternative Care / 8
Basic Health and Welfare / 9
Education, Leisure and Cultural Activities / 11
Special Protection Measures / 14
Recommendations / 16
Annexes

Annex 1 – SociodemographicFigures

Annex 2- SociodemographicTables

Annex 3 – Children’s Voices - Focus Group Discussions

Annex 4 – Children’s Voices – Quantitative Evidence

Overview:

There are few indications of progress in the status of the Palestinian refugee child in Lebanonfrom that of marginalization and disenfranchisement. This is proposed to be related with several factors:(1) lack of progress in the resolution of the Palestinian refugee problem,(2) multiplicity of stewardsof the welfare of the refugee children - namely UNRWA, the Lebanese government and a designated Palestinian national agency, (3) lack of implementation on the part of the state of Lebanon of the Casablanca Accord (1964) that guarantees civil rights of the refugee population thus contributing towards lifting the burden of marginalization and disenfranchisement, and (4)financial resource restrictionsthat impede the functioning and progress of UNRWA - the major provider of health, education and social services for the Palestinian refugee population.

Major advancements have been made in the field of information gathering initiatives on the part of NGOs. Such initiatives have become ongoing especially with the availability of funds from international donors as well as technical assistance offered by local and international academic agencies. Topics are related to major issues pertaining to the welfare of children such as living conditions surveys, stakeholders’ analyses, family relations research as well as research on education especially in the area of retention in the educational system.

Moreover, NGOs working with the Palestinian refugee communities in Lebanon have gained experience and are still engaged in working with children from different facets such as preschool education, vocational training, extracurricular activities, advocacy on children’s rights, and working with children with special needs including disabilities and risk of leaving school and those who have left school to join the workforce.

There is an increasing reporting of collaboration between UNRWA, the Lebanese government and the NGOs but this has yet to be reflected in outcomes.This is manifested in the content of the recommendations of this report since most are reiterations of recommendations appearing in the previous report.

Preliminary Notes:

In addition to the legal and moral aspects, the state of Palestinian refugee children in Lebanon deserves urgent attention from a demographic point of view due to the high proportion of children under the age of 18 years with respect to the refugee population.Preliminary data recently released from a survey covering 2000 households in refugee camps and gatherings indicated a median age of 20 years.

The chronic refugee status of the Palestinian children poses the question of a formal comprehensive identification of the steward agency (ies)responsible of the welfare of Palestinian refugee children in Lebanon. Is the Lebanese state the sole steward of Palestinian refugee children in Lebanon? This report argues to the contrary, thus the question remains:Will such multiple stewardships be recognized by the international community?If so, how should the format of the report be modified to reflect that fact? Awaiting resolution of such issues, this report will follow the format of the Guide for NGOs Reporting to the Committee on the Rights of the Child which presupposes that the host government is the primary steward. The report manifests the dual role of NGOs working with Palestinian refugee communities in Lebanonas monitoring / advocacy agencies as well asservice providers.

Multiplicity of Stewards: Lebanese, International and Palestinian and Civil Society.

Lebanese stewardship is based on reason of residence: Palestinian children live in Lebanon therefore the Lebanese government is bound to bear a set of responsibilities. This is the sole internationally acceptable steward in the domain of this documentation.

International stewardship is based on official mandate. As refugees, Palestinian children currently residing in Lebanon are wards of the international community represented by a special agency UNRWA that is distinct from UNHCR and reports directly to the General Assembly of the United Nations.

Palestinian stewardship is based on the reason of national identity: Palestinian children are part of a social fabric bound together by common national identity. Such fabric extends from historic Palestine and covers countries in the Middle East, and around the globe. Such a national fabric is tied together politically by the Palestine Liberation Organization. On the part of civil society Palestinian national identity is represented by a network of NGOs.

In addition to the above three stewards, NGOs working with the Palestinian refugee communities in Lebanon play a dual role of service provision in addition to advocacy.Their service role relates to services complementing those offered by UNRWA.NGOs work in areas such as preschool education, assisting children at risk from school dropout in basic education as well, vocational training, providers of some health services for children, and focusing on cultural and recreational activities for Palestinian refugee children currently residing in Lebanon. NGOs play a significant role in education of children about their national heritage. They complement the informal efforts by families. Informally they conduct outreach activities to youth through summer camps, youth clubs and other extracurricular activities.

This service role of NGOs raises the issue of accountability similar to that asked of the Lebanese government and the international community embodied by UNRWA as well as the designated Palestinian national agency. However, since there is yet to be a more formal discourse and a consensus on that matter, the following report follows the existing format of a singular steward of Palestinian refugee children in Lebanon namely the Lebanese government. Other issues outside the domain of the responsibilities of the Lebanese government will be alluded to in the spirit of complementary nature of this report with respect to that issued by the Lebanese official report.

The LebaneseState Report: A Summary Assessment:

In view of their refugee status, Palestinian refugee children currently residing in Lebanon are mostly mentioned in the Lebanese third national report 1998 – 2003 in the section on special protection measures. A special section is given to Palestinian refugee childrendistinct from other refugee children.This underscores the conclusion that the Lebanese government focuses on its role as a steward for reasons of residence and does not claim to be the overarching steward of the Palestinian refugee children. The state report has a section on assistance given to Palestinian refugee children (8-1-3-2) and focuses on the work of UNRWA in the field of health and education. The state report is deficient, however,with respect to Palestinian refugee children in a set of themes such asgeneral measures of implementation (articles 4, 42, 44.6), definition of the child (article 1), general principles (articles 2, 3, 6, 12), family environment and alternative care (articles 5, 9, 10, 11, 18, 20, 21, 25, 27.4), leisure and cultural activities (articles 29, 31).

General Measures of Implementation (articles 4, 42, and 44.6)

Given the complexity of the situation of the Palestinian refugee children currently residing in Lebanon, implementation of their rights as children lies in the hands of three major official agencies: the Lebanese government, the international community, the Palestinian designated national agency, and the civil society in Lebanon encompassing both Lebanese and Palestinian refugees.

The state report in chapter 1, section1 states a general commitment on the part of the Lebanese government to a set of international instruments pertaining to child labor, gender discrimination, enhancing financial access to cultural sites, anti torture, corporal punishment in schools, minimal age for work, protection of juvenile delinquents or those at risk, children’s participation in armed conflict, limiting access to night clubs, alludes to future legislations pertainingto enhancing the role of NGOs as legal advocates of children. It is not clearly stated how Palestinian children can benefit from such commitments.

Regarding information gathering, coordination and frameworks for monitoring and budgeting (chapter 1, section 2), periodic gathering of information about Palestinian refugee children living in vulnerable areas namely camps and gatherings is as essential as that for Lebanese from a planning perspective given the intertwining of the two social fabrics.

Adoption of the Lebanese new basic education curriculum, UNRWA is participating in the process of dissemination of information regarding the right of the child to children themselves directly as well as to their parents. Most of the NGOs working within the Palestinian refugee community in Lebanonhave been involved in disseminating principles of CRC utilizing resources from the Lebanese government, and regional NGOs. Children’s rights have been integrated in preschool curricula in most NGOs. Training efforts have been underway on the part of NGOs in addition to UNRWA’s training for the new curriculum.

NGOs working with the Palestinian refugee communities in Lebanonare being involved in reporting on the state of the Palestinian refugee children. This document is a manifestation of such process.

Sources of Information about children’s rights according to children who participated in focus group discussions in Beirut, Tripoli and Saida[1] are UNRWA, NGOs, outside readings and the media.

Challenges remain and will be identified in their respective domains in this document.

Definition of the Child (article 1)

The definition of the child is recognized by the state report.Children are mentioned solely as recipients of UNRWA’s social assistance. Moreover, since it is presumed that the personal laws / family laws apply to Palestinians therefore, the current freeze on the recommendation mentioned in the report pertaining to closing the gap of the minimal age at marriage for young men and women applies to the Palestinian refugee young men and women.

General Principles (articles 2, 3, 6, and 12)

Article 2- AntiDiscrimination

The constitutional non discrimination clauses as indicated by the LebaneseState report (Chapter 3) does not include non nationals. Consequently there is no national legal instrument protecting the Palestinian refugee child among other expatriates from discrimination.

However, there are laws that may apply to Palestinian refugee children such as the Medical ethics law 288/1994 that entails reporting of abuse, incarceration or deprivation of minors, newborn health record 550/1996 which provides access to a record of the health of the newborn upon request for the non Lebanese. Such laws need to be more widely disseminated among the Palestinian refugee communities.

Article 3- Best Interests of Child

Challenges pertaining to the best interest of the child identified by the State report (3-2-4) pertain to Palestinian refugee children namely absence of judges specialized in juvenile laws, absence of a unified juvenile law, laxity in applying anti addiction laws and measures, absence of enough places for recreation such as athletic clubs, scouts and summer camps.

However in the part pertaining to extracurricular activities, efforts have been done by NGOs working with Palestinian refugee children to implement extracurricular activities such as summer camps as well as campaigns for promoting reading.

The program that promotes childrearing of children who lost one or both parents among relatives representing maintaining links with their cultural environment constitutes an illustration.

Article 6 – Child’s Right to Life, Survival and Growth

The State Report alludes to suicide and ‘honor crimes’. They point out to the rising trend among Lebanese youth less than 18 years. Such information is not available for Palestinian children neither is there formal reporting of ‘honor crimes’.

From another perspective, the right to life is manifested by efforts to safeguard the health of pregnant women and their newborns. For Palestinian refugee children, this is practiced at an institutional level by the prenatal and immunization program of UNRWA.

Article 12 – Child’s Right to Express Opinions

NGOs working with the Palestinian refugee communities in Lebanon have been active participants in implementing Article 12. Palestinian refugee children have been involved in several activities that foster self expression. Most noteworthy are the annual art exhibits presented by NGOs in preschool and specific creativity classes as well as the involvement of children as participants as well as producers of documentaries. Activities entitled the ‘young journalist’ were implemented by several NGOs.

Moreover, at least one NGO working with the Palestinian children focusing on children has participatory clauses in its statement of mission where youth are to be involved in leadership roles of planning activities and forming community based associations.

A recent statistical survey conducted in Ein Hilweh by an NGO in 2003 incorporated statements and opinions of youth. Statistical findings from that survey are cited in several places in this report.

In addition, the children’s right report issued by the forum of NGOs working for the Palestinian refugees in Lebanonhas adopted a tradition of conducting focus group discussions as a part of the process of generating the NGO forum report.

Children’s participation is embedded in the new basic education curriculum. Information is not available for this report regarding the extent of participation practiced by children and its impact.

Civil Rights and Freedoms (articles 7, 8, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 37(a)),

This section is mentioned in the State report, where the State of Lebanon acknowledges its prime responsibility towards ensuring the civil rights of Palestinian refugee children under the Casablanca Protocol of 1956 which gives Palestinian refugees at large the right of equal treatment to that offered to the citizens of the host Arab countries with the exception of nationality. According to the state report, Lebanon has ratified that protocol with reservation and some modifications but did not implement it. The reason was attributed to ‘complex political conditions related to the question of nationalization of Palestinians in Lebanon, that which there is a general consensus on refusal according to the 'Taef Accord’[2]. No further explanations or clarifications are presented in the report.

This lag in implementation of the Casablanca Accord has created a socio economic environment of marginalization and poverty within which Palestinian refugee children are being brought up. The preceding situation, coupled with deficiencies in the social welfare safety net that is the responsibility of the international community represented by UNRWA result in Palestinian children growing up in an environment where there is a breach of their civil as well as their social rights - basic health and welfare and the rights to education, leisure and cultural activities.

In all three focus groups conducted for purposes of this report between January 1 and March 3 of 2004 in Beirut, Saida and Tripoli pertaining to children’s perspectives on Children's Rights Convention, the right to return to their ancestral homes in Palestine reverberated either as a one of the rights or as an expression of the notion of children’s rights.

Article 7- Right to Name and Nationality

The State report specifically describes procedures for registering a new born whose father is a registered Palestinian refugee, in addition to procedures ensuring the identity of each newborn upon birth.

On the other hand, a recent report by the Danish Refugee Council Report[3] underscored the marginalization of non ID Palestinian refugees who do not have any documentation from either UNRWA or the Lebanese government. The estimate presented in the report is about 3000 refugees. The majority(63%) lives in the south of Lebanon and the remaining live in Beqaa and the North. Only 5% live in Beirut area. This problem is magnified when focusing on children since they do not have access to health and educational services provided by UNRWA.

Article 8 – The Right to Maintain Nationality

The state report does not mention the much reported cancellation of ‘registration’ as Palestinian refugees upon having another nationality. This is a matter that needs further consideration between the Lebanese government and the Palestinian reference political agency since it has negative implications with respect to implementing the right to return. These reports pertain to adults and they impact their children, since the Lebanese document represents the sole evidence of the ‘Palestinian’ nationality of the refugee.

Article 13 – Freedom of Expression and Access to Information:

Projects exist by NGOS that promote freedom of expression of children and youth including art (painting, photography, cinematography, puppet theatre), and journalism. Youth clubs, summer camps and other extra curricular activities represent the prime venues. Active learning is the means of implementation of a ‘holistic integrative approach’ in preschool education adopted by most NGOs working with the Palestinian refugee communities in Lebanon.

Access to information has been promoted through many NGO activities as well as market forces to facilitate access to computers and internet. However, market access to portals of entry to the information age is largely unregulated and there are indicators of gender discrimination where boys are more prone to use facilities available in the market. This is shown from the Ein Hilweh study of 2003. Lack of computers at homes and in schools prevents access to girls as well as precludes parental and school guidance. Several NGOs are promoting access to computers and internet through their vocational training centers and their youth clubs and some are planning to have programs targeting young women and girls. Moreover, according to evidence from Ein Hilweh students which is consistent with public discourse on the subject, the purpose of using internet is mostly for games and chatting rather than a source of accessinginformation.