Displaced Nahr al-bared residents call for details
While local and international groups have launched awareness campaigns on the dangers of munitions in the Northern refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared, refugees temporarily based in the Beddawi camp voiced concern Monday that the campaigns were failing to reach some residents.
"We definitely need more awareness on the issue," said Walid Awat, a philosophy teacher from Nahr al-Bared and one of many residents who chose to work with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency and the United Nations Children's Fund to spread mine awareness.
"At the moment we are working inside schools and the Beddawi camp, but those not living in schools are not getting the information," he said.
The UN, alongside the International Committee for the Red Cross and other local non-governmental organizations, has begun training sessions inside Beddawi for residents of Nahr al-Bared to educate the refugees on the issue of mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) left behind by Fatah al-Islam and the Lebanese Army.
Awat, having attended two sessions already, described what had been covered so far.
The first session, titled "Don't Get Near, Don't Touch, Tell Someone," explained what people should look out for and what to do [and not do] if they stumble across suspicious or strange-looking objects. The second session was more specific, dividing the camp into small sections and assigning certain individuals to be in charge of each area.
"I would say about 50 to 60 percent of the population is now aware of the situation and its seriousness, but there is always the concern that people will not take it seriously enough," Awat said. "We are telling people to stay away from the camp until it gets the 'all-clear' from the army once the fighting stops, so they have time to clear away the mines, but if it is not organized properly then there is the risk that there may be big problems with the residents who are determined to go back immediately."
In one school housing a number of Nahr al-Bared refugees, Mahmoud Khodor, 12, recited the instructions he had been given if he came across a mine.
"If I see one, I shouldn't go near it, and I should go and tell someone in authority," he said, proudly. "They are different from ordinary bombs and they are extremely dangerous."
But he says more should be done to teach the young about UXOs. "I've only heard about these things from my father, and from the posters I've noticed around," he said. "No one has sat us down and talked to us properly, which is what we need."
This sentiment was reiterated by his cousin, 21-year-old Mohammad Khodor. "We need so many more details about the mines and what is going on," said Mohammad. "We are the new generation, and we haven't really experienced any of this before, like our parents have."
The organizations dedicated to spreading awareness are attempting to do so through a variety of means - leaflets, posters, training sessions and television broadcasts. Yet even this dissemination of information reaches only a limited audience.
"The idea of doing broadcasts on television is a great one," said Awat. "But then again, schools and many homes don't have televisions ... And what about those refugees who are not even in the North anymore? Will they have access to all the necessary information?"
Coupled with the de-mining issue is that of the return to the camp once fighting is over. An army source confirmed that de-mining would take a certain period of time due to the excess of mines and booby-traps being discovered every day.
Awat added that while the camp remains under military control, no one will be allowed to return. Yet even the children were worried about a backlash within Beddawi if residents, many of whom already have been displaced for a month, were forced to remain for an extended period of time.
"We all understand how serious the issue of de-mining is, but at the same time we just want to go home," said Mohammad. "There is a concern of problems and confrontations erupting if people start to get more frustrated at the idea of having to wait."
Source : The Daily Star