Global Overview 2011: People internally displaced by conflict and violence - Lebanon

In 2011 there was no new internal displacement in Lebanon, but some people remained displaced. Most of them had fled the destruction of the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared in 2007; others had been displaced by the 1975-1990 civil war in which about a quarter of the population was displaced.

Several hundred thousand people were also internally displaced during the 33-day war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006; however, observers agreed that there were no IDPs remaining from the 2006 conflict. In 2011 Hezbollah was close to finishing the reconstruction of the suburb of Haret Hrek in south Beirut, to provide houses to IDPs and destitute people.

In 2011, most of the 27,000 Palestinian refugees from Nahr el-Bared camp were still internally displaced. At the end of the year, UNRWA had rebuilt the first section of the camp, enabling the return of about 1,400 people. UNRWA plans to rebuild over 5,200 houses and nearly 2,000 commercial units.

NGOs had put their construction activities in the adjacent area on hold in February 2011 for lack of funds, but they managed to resume at the end of the year.

During the year, USAID estimated that a significant number of people were still displaced from the civil war, but the lack of information on their achievement of durable solutions made it hard to assess their number. IDPs remained in Beirut's informal settlements and squats. In some villages there had been no reconciliation since the civil war, and the whereabouts of people from these villages was unknown.

State bodies, the Lebanese Red Cross, political parties, local communities and the international community have responded to the successive situations. However, the lack of a national policy on internal displacement has led to differences in the assistance provided to different displaced communities.