Shatila refugee camp
The Shatila refugee camp (Arabic: مخيم شاتيلا), also known as the Chatila refugee camp, is a settlement originally set up for Palestinian refugees in 1949. It is located in southern Beirut, Lebanon and houses more than 9,842 registered Palestine refugees.[1] Since the eruption of the Syrian Civil War, the refugee camp has received a large number of Syrian refugees. In 2014, the camp's population was estimated to be between 10,000 and 22,000.[2]
History
Establishment
Shatila was set up by the International Committee of the Red Cross to accommodate hundreds of refugees who came there after 1948.[1] They were from villages around the area of Amka, Majd al-Krum and Yajur in northern Palestine.[1]
During Lebanese Civil War
The Sabra and Shatila massacre was the slaughter of between 762 and 3,500 civilians, mostly Palestinians and Lebanese Shiites, by the Hobeika-led militia and the IDF in the Sabra neighborhood of southern Beirut and the nearby Shatila refugee camp from approximately 6:00 pm on 16 September to 8:00 am on 18 September 1982.[3]
During Syrian Civil War
Since the eruption of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, Lebanon's population has swelled by more than 1 million Syrian refugees. The camp has also swollen with Syrian refugees, receiving mostly the poor Syrians. As of 2014, the camp's population is estimated to be from 10,000 to 22,000.[2]
Management
The camp comprises approximately one square kilometer and thus has an exceptionally high population density.[4]
UNRWA operates one health center and two primary schools within the camp. Non-governmental organizations active in the camp include Al-Najda, Beit Atfal Al-Soumoud, Norwegian Peoples' Aid, Doctors Without Borders, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society and the Association Najdeh.[5]
See also
References
- "Lebanon - Camp Profiles - Shatila". UNRWA. Archived from the original on 1 August 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
- "Syrian refugees fear permanent exile in Lebanon's camps". BBC News. 3 April 2014. Archived from the original on 24 May 2023. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
- Malone, Linda A. (1985). "The Kahan Report, Ariel Sharon and the Sabra-Shatilla Massacres in Lebanon: Responsibility Under International Law for Massacres of Civilian Populations". Utah Law Review: 373–433. Archived from the original on 12 October 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
- "News and media". ifrc.org. Archived from the original on 26 August 2006. Retrieved 23 August 2006.
- "Association Najdeh". association-najdeh.org. Archived from the original on 15 April 2016. Retrieved 28 September 2023.