By
Annie Slemrod
BEIRUT:
The much-maligned permit entry system at the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee
camp was scrapped over the weekend, as the Lebanese Army vacated a building and
a plot of land residents have set for use as a cemetery. According to several
sources in the camp, the Army stopped requesting permits at the camp’s entrance
Friday.
The
Army has had a presence in and on Nahr al-Bared’s boundaries since the 2007
conflict between the Islamist group Fatah al-Islam and the Army laid much of
the camp to waste.
The
head of Hamas in Nahr al-Bared, Abdul-Rahim Ahmad al-Sharif, told The Daily
Star the permit system had been eliminated Friday but there were still
checkpoints at the camp’s entrance. “We are now entering the camp without
permits, only by showing our IDs.” He said “in general, people are relieved”
the permit system has been revoked.
The
permit system has been a grievance of camp residents, who argued that it was
humiliating, unnecessary and stunted economic recovery in the camp which was
once a thriving economic hub for both Lebanese and Palestinians.
Journalists
still require permission to enter the camp.
Sharif
said a new Army division moved into the camp Friday, replacing the division
that had been there since 2007. “We were familiar with members of the old
division; these are new soldiers [so] they are searching our cars. They need
some time to know us.”
The
Army retains an intelligence office in Nahr al-Bared.
A
Fatah representative in the camp, Abu Salim Ghneim, confirmed that the permit
system had been lifted. “The checkpoints are still there, but there are no
restrictions,” he said.
Both
men said the Army pulled out of a house it had been using for operations inside
the camp Sunday, but remains in two other houses.
The
Army abandoned a plot of land where a cemetery has long been planned; however
Sharif added it is surrounded by a fence and is inaccessible.
In
June, the Army shot dead two camp residents after protests erupted when a
soldier allegedly assaulted a female resident during a disagreement with one of
her male relatives.
Since
then, residents and Palestinian factions have been engaged in an ongoing
sit-in. Its demands include an end to the permit system, the end to the Army’s
control of camp land and property, and the release of 10 men who were detained
during the protests. The men, some said to be as young as 15, were all released
last week, but the Army still holds some areas of the camp.
Many
residents have not been able to return to their homes since 2007, and another
bone of contention is the slow pace of reconstruction.
Camp leaders met with Prime
Minister Najib Mikati, representatives of General Security, Army Intelligence
and the Lebanese Palestinian Dialogue Committee more than two weeks ago and
agreed the permit system would be scrapped by July 15.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2012/Jul-17/180851-army-scraps-nahr-al-bared-permit-system.ashx#axzz20mFkUNDx
No comments:
Post a Comment