The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and the Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon has held a ceremony for the completion of a project that helped reconstruct the houses of 111 displaced Palestinian families in Mohajareen, a small neighbourhood located in the adjacent area of the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp. The benefitting families had been displaced following fighting in the Nahr al-Bared camp in 2007, which had led to the complete destruction of their neighbourhood of Mohajareen.
The reconstruction of Mohajareen was funded by the European Union (3,735,000 Euros) and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (250,000 Euros) and implemented by NRC.
The completion ceremony marks the very first reconstruction of a destroyed Palestinian refugee neighbourhood in Lebanon. The 111 displaced Palestinian refugee families can now reside in their homes without fear of eviction, which is not the case for many Palestinian refugees living outside of official refugee camps.
Ambassador Angelina Eichhorst, Head of the Delegation of the European Union said: "Rarely has a development action involved such a large number of Lebanese, Palestinian, international actors: politicians, policy makers, technicians, consultants, operators, donors and of course the families of refugees. It is the only reconstruction operation of this scale, beyond the limits of the Nahr el Bared Palestinian refugee camp, supported by the international community and, as such, it is considered an example and a symbol."
"Providing the security of a home, within a community, is not frequently achieved in the often uncertain situation for Palestinian refugees around the world", says Niamh Murnaghan, NRC’s Country Director in Lebanon. "At NRC, we are very proud to have contributed to this project which has such significance not only for the residents of Mohajareen, but for other Palestinian communities too", she said.
