LEBANON, March 2, 2007 (WAFA) - The Palestinian Association for Human Rights (Witness) has launched a new study entitled "Indicators of social, economical and health conditions of the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, al-Jaleel camp in Bekaa (an example)".

The 106 page study deals with various issues and is divided into three parts, the first part: the Palestinians in Lebanon, the second part: a close look at al-Jaleel camp, and the third part: an account of the field research of this study, which involved an opinion poll carried on a sample of 100 families comprising 600 people, that is, 20% of the camp's residents.

Thus this sample was large enough for the results coming out of it to be considered reliable and can be built on, said Witness.

It added that over 95% of Palestinian refugees resided in Northern Palestine, so that when the Nakbah (the Catastrophe) took place, these people found no nearby country in which to seek refuge other than Lebanon, since, at the time, there existed close family and economic ties between Lebanon and Palestine.

As for the size of families, the study indicated that 37% of families are composed of 6-10 members, while 50% of them have 1-5 members, the fact that indicates that the size of the Palestinian family is declining due to hard living conditions.

And although the rate of early marriage has also declined in refugee society, a ratio of 94% of those polled got married before they reached 30 years of age, which is an advanced age of marriage when compared to what it was in camps' society before living conditions worsened. Several social factors play a role in determining the age of marriage.

For the ratio of those in the sample who were about to get married and aged 16-20 was 36%, while the ratio of women who were 16-20 at the time of their marriage was 56%.

According to Witness, there is no doubt that the Palestinian emigration to European countries could be considered an escape for those refugees who are worn out by their wretched life.

For 77% of those polled have relatives of the first degree in their second country of emigration. Al-Jaleel camp can be considered an actual example of that. It is called the Denmark camp, since 48.5% of its emigrants live in Denmark.

Palestinian society remains characterized by its youthfulness, for the ration of those younger than18 is 31.5%, and the ratio of those who are between 18 and 34 years of age is 35.5%, meaning that 66.8% are younger than 35 years of age, which also indicates that the average life span of Palestinians is low. As for the distribution by sex, the ratio of males reached 35%.

The cause of this could be the emigration of males abroad by reason of work, pursuit of education, or as a result of inherited conviction in eastern families that they should keep having children until the mother gives birth to a boy, or, finally, it could be due to the loss of a number of males during the civil war, the evils of which reached camps' inhabitants.

Regarding the level of education, according to the study, the rate of illiteracy is 11%, and that has many objective causes.

As for the health situation, the study indicated that 56% of refugees enjoy good health. That means also that half the population suffers from various diseases, which is necessarily affected by the living conditions in the camps.

For example: 3.5% of them suffer from asthma because of overcrowding inside the homes and congested housing inside the camp.

As for the ratio of the diseases of the heart, diabetes and hypertension taken together, it reaches 13.5% and are caused by life's pressures, malnutrition, and dependence on eating much fried foods because of their low cost, or because the distributed medicines are not appropriate for these disease.

Then there came to light the problem of urinary sedimentation, in the form of stones or calculi and gravel, that rose to a ratio of 4.5% because the available water is not potable, and because those inflicted with this disease pay no attention to having healthy food. Of those patients, 86% turn to UNRWA's clinics. However, when buying medicines, 67% of them turn to pharmacies other than those of UNRWA.

The ratio of disability in al-Jaleel camp is 6.7%, and that includes paralysis and mental, hearing and visual disability…, also there is not enough attention paid to the care of the disabled. For the ratio of those who don't attend specialized centers is 80%, which is due to the lack of specialized rehabilitation centers or the high cost of such centers outside the camps, knowing that the Ministry of Social Affairs doesn't take upon itself the responsibility for the disabled Palestinian.

Regarding the housing situation, which is considered one of the most crucial human problems, the ratio of two-room houses reached 47% and that of three-room houses 33%, knowing that family members are not few in number since, according to the study, 37% of refugees have families of 6-10 members. Furthermore, the areas of the camps are limited since their establishment, in spite of almost the fourfold increase in the number of inhabitants.

And what aggravates the situation further is that the Lebanese government prevents the Palestinian from owning property outside the camps, that is, in case he had enough money to buy a house.

Regarding the economic situation, according to the study, the rate of unemployment reaches 42%. As for those who are lucky enough to find a job, 32.5% of them are day laborers, that is, they work without a contract that safeguards their rights, 35% work on a permanent basis, while 32.5% are seasonal workers.

In spite of that, 65% of them consider the family's monthly income insufficient, in the sense that it is below the minimum wage of 350,000LL. Knowing that half the families are made up of more than six members, this means that the individual's monthly income is 50,000LL. In addition to that, 15% of homemakers work in various fields to help the husband. Regarding education, 83% of those polled expressed a desire to educate girls, which is a high ratio when compared to other societies. The ratio of females in UNRWA's schools may even surpass slightly that of males at all levels.

Also 33% of those polled expressed their fear of facing educational problems that are hard to tackle. These mostly center on disobedience or problems related to adolescence. The cause of these problems could be the large size of the family, early employment of children, dropping out of school, and unemployment rate that is steadily rising among young people.

As for the nature of the relationship between the camps' residents, it varied between neighborliness, goodwill, and cooperation. There is a ratio of 37% who described this relationship as that of neighborliness, while 55% of them described it as one of goodwill and cooperation.

What is also worth noting in this study is that television was considered an important source of culture for refugees' society, since 65% of them declared this to be so, the radio came next with a ratio of 11%, as for books, magazines and newspapers, they had altogether a ratio of 20%, while the internet was considered a source of culture for the family by no more than 4%.

A.D (22:15P) (20:15GMT)