Global Overview 2012: People internally displaced by conflict and violence - Lebanon

Number of IDPsAbout 44,600
Percentage of total populationAbout 1.0%
Start of displacement situation1975
Peak number of IDPs (year)800,000 (2006)
New displacement in 2012
Causes of displacementx International armed conflict
✓ Internal armed conflict
x Deliberate policy or practice of arbitrary displacement
✓ Communal violence
x Criminal violence
x Political violence
Human development index72

About 44,600 IDPs remained in protracted displacement in Lebanon in 2012, principally Palestinian refugees and Lebanese displaced since the 1975 to 1990 civil war. The country's stability wavered during the year by mounting tensions and violence linked to the conflict in Syria. There were armed clashes in Beirut and sectarian conflict between Sunni and Alawite groups broke out in Tripoli. No new internal displacements were reported in 2012.

In May 2007, around 27,000 Palestinians refugees were internally displaced when conflict between Fatah-al-Islam militants and the Lebanese army destroyed the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp and the surrounding area. Political deadlock and funding constraints have led to only limited reconstruction, and access to the camp is restricted by a complicated permit regime and harsh treatment at checkpoints. The estimated 23,000 IDPs unable to return have for the most part been living in the Baddawi refugee camp and elsewhere in Tripoli. By the end of 2012, UNRWA had reconstructed 240 buildings at Nahr el-Bared and NRC had started to rebuild the nearby Mohajareen neighbourhood, which will house 111 families.

Of the 700,000 to 900,000 people internally displaced since the end of the civil war, the majority have settled in Beirut's slums and informal settlements. Since its establishment in 1992 the Ministry of Displaced People has facilitated durable solutions and financial reparations, but its capacity is limited by the privatisation of real estate and the lack of reconciliation, particularly in the Shouf region.

In May 2012, the reconstruction of Beirut's Harek-Hreik neighbourhood was completed, ending the displacement caused by the 33-day war between Hizbollah and Israel in 2006.

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