08/17/2006

Contacts: Sarah Martin & Kristele Younes
ri@refugeesinternational.org; 202-828-0110

Mass returns

• There were mass returns from Syria- more than 30,000 spontaneous returns in two days, with transport and assistance provided by UNHCR and the Syrian Red Crescent.
• Most reception areas in Lebanon have emptied out. The UN estimates that less than 30 percent of the displaced have stayed behind. RI believes it is considerably less. On the first day of the ceasefire one army checkpoint leading to the south estimated that 1,200 cars with an average of five people per car were passing per hour.
• People who did stay behind are generally staying with host families and will be difficult to reach – most probably the elderly and those with chronic health problems who need access to medicines and are unsure if they can get them in their home areas.

• In the case of a failure of the ceasefire, there should be contingency planning. Much of the relief efforts were coordinated through the municipalities. Are they prepared again? Do they have the resources they need? One of the complaints during the displacement was shortages of hygiene items (particularly for women) and problems with sanitation.
• In the case that some people return from the South after finding their houses destroyed, what is the plan to reach them and provide them support? Schools in Lebanon might open in less than a month so will there be alternative shelters for them?

• Community leaders of political groups such as Hezbollah and Amal were extremely quick to ask communities to return south, despite the fragility of the ceasefire and the destruction of the infrastructure.
• The IDF leafleted Tyre on the second day of the ceasefire and warned the populations not to return to their villages before the deployment of UNIFIL. This warning was largely ignored.
• More than 15,000 individual dwellings have been destroyed since July 12th, and the water system has been severely damaged throughout the south. Some villages are completely deprived of water. Even in Beirut, electricity is still far from running twenty-four hours a day leading to increased dependence on generators. The air and sea blockade has not been lifted yet and although there is fuel entering the country, lack of fuel is still a concern.
• All the bridges and roads leading to the south of the country, particularly to areas south of the Litani, have been bombed. The coastal roads were overcrowded in the past two days, making it difficult for humanitarian convoys to reach these areas quickly.
• Other serious obstacles to return include the high estimated number of unexploded ordinance (UXO). Since the ceasefire, there have already been several incidents of deaths and injury caused by UXOs. Mine Risk Education is an urgent need as people begin cleaning their homes.
• There has been discussion of postponing school openings for several months – possibly until January, while the schools are currently empty - activities for young children should resume as quickly as possible.

• Priorities are shelter, water and electricity. Many people are returning to the damaged apartment buildings in Dahiyeh to guard against looting and begin the cleanup. They are using generators to provide electricity but also identified the need for tarps. A thorough inspection of the destroyed buildings is needed immediately to ensure that there are no bodies left under the rubble.
• Many families stayed in hotels or temporary shelters in Beirut during the shelling and now have run low on resources, they are considering returning to their damaged apartments to stay even though there are still considerable environmental health risks.
• Hezbollah promised the people of south Beirut, the south and the Beqaa that it would rebuild their houses. It is difficult for the moment to assess whether Hezbollah has the means to do so with the Lebanese engineering syndicate estimating the repairs of homes costing $2 billion. Hezbollah teams of engineers are already assessing the damages in the targeted areas. They are also allegedly providing families with resources to rebuild or move within 48 hours. There is very little confidence amongst the population that the government of Lebanon will be able to do anything for them.
• International organizations must immediately establish policies for dealing with the relief arm of Hezbollah, a group considered to be a terrorist movement by some donors, particularly the US. The US has promised $50 million in humanitarian assistance for rebuilding Lebanon. How will this be programmed if Hezbollah is leading the relief efforts?
• With the politicization of aid comes the necessity to ensure that all vulnerable individuals and families are assisted: Hezbollah is a main player in the south but many Christian villages were also targeted. Will Hezbollah assist them? Hezbollah has claimed that it will, but that it will not funnel any of its assistance through the government.
• As Lebanon is a country with great local capacity, international organizations must increase their cooperation with local actors. The national organizations are leading most of the work on the ground. Coordination efforts must improve and the UN and international NGOs must work closely with the government of Lebanon, the political parties involved in the relief efforts and the Lebanese civil society in order to identify all actors and support them.
• What is the role of the international community in the return and reconstruction process? The resources needed to rebuild the destroyed infrastructure and insure a viable return are enormous. It is essential that donors support this effort to ensure sustainability of return. The government of Lebanon must play an enhanced role in the funneling of the resources and in monitoring their use. It is essential that the international community works together with the Lebanese government to strengthen its capacity and ensure that reconstruction efforts are more centralized and transparent than throughout the relief phase.
• Lebanon has a large number of qualified professionals and technical expertise is not what is most needed. The international community must ensure that protection concerns are injected into local initiatives and monitor the reconstruction effort to make sure that the most vulnerable do not fall through the cracks.