"I cannot sleep at night now, I cannot eat, I am just afraid"
said Rania Hamed, an eight-year-old Palestinian refugee,
who fled the Nahr al Bared camp on foot with her family in May
(Fleeing Palestinian children speak of horrors).
In armed conflict, children always pay the heaviest price from the fighting, displacement, lack of infrastructure and resources. Therefore Palestinian children seem unable to escape the violence and hardship that has plagued them their entire lives. Fighting has recently broke out in Lebanon between the army and the radical Islamic group Fatah al-Islam. The fighting has now been going on for two months, leaving a strain on resources and preventing the adequate protection of refugee children. Lack of food, safe drinking water, medicine, heath care, suitable housing, education and security, are placing children at even heavier risk. Unfortunately the fighting has made an already grave situation, even more dire, providing basic resources is difficult for aid agencies, let alone providing basic education to children. ‘Although UNRWA is required to provide Palestinian children with elementary and preparatory education, about 60 percent of the young adults have not completed basic education at least in part because of the poor learning environment in the camps (Children Still Caught in Crossfire at Refugee Camp in Lebanon)’.
According to Amnesty International Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon's biggest problem in accessing education is that, ‘Non-ID’ refugee children have no access to formal education, and though they could can pay for private school, a cost many cannot afford, as obtaining work is also limited as refugees cannot do so legally. Even if an ‘Non-ID’ child is able to go to school, they are unable to take state exams to obtain the intermediate school certificate, therefore are unable to finish school, and even if manage to it is unrecognized.
What can be done to ensure that child refugee's fundamental human rights are fulfilled and protected?
“Human Rights Watch believes the right to asylum is a matter of life and death and cannot be compromised. Human Rights Watch calls on the United Nations and on governments everywhere to uphold their obligations to protect refugees and to respect their rights – regardless of where they are from or where they seek refuge.”(Human Rights Watch)
Refuge rights, which are guaranteed under the UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, include; protection against discrimination, freedom of religion, right to identity and travel documents, work, protection against penalties for illegal entry, right to housing, education and relief, protection against penalties for illegal entry, and freedom of movement.
Amnesty International has made a number of recommendations for the compliance of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the Lebanese government. Recommendations in the report included; the right to an adequate standard of living, right to education, right to be registered, right to a name, and the right to social security.
The Lebanese government, as with all governments that host refugees, should ensure that the fundamental rights of the child are met. Governments and aid agencies must work to see that the best interests of the child are met, regardless of the political or social situation. It is therefore essential that refugee children in Lebanon, both ID and ‘Non-ID’, receive a basic education, health care, nutrition and they are protected from violence to the best of the government's ability. Therefore even in times of violence, the government and aid agencies, must ensure the adequate food and water supplies are delivered to the camps, children a permitted to receive an education, and if the situation is hazardous then children and their families must be moved to safer locations.
As an international community we must look to establish, and follow, a system to ensure the rights of refugees are safeguarded, especially that of the child's. Children regardless or race, religion or citizenship, are our future, our leaders, and our hope for peace.
Links:
Refugees have rights – Questions & Answers
The Palestine Center -Refugee Rights
International Refugee Rights Initiative
Human Rights First
Human Rights Watch
UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees
