7DAYS' Nichola Jones visits Nahr El Bared refugee camp to meet those who lost everything when fighting destroyed their home two years ago
Twisted metal and rubble are all that remain of the north Lebanon refugee camp, Nahr El Bared.
What began with Palestinians sleeping under canvas in 1948 became a bustling 'temporary' town of narrow streets, six storey buildings and hundreds of shops, stalls and businesses.
But on May 21, 2007, a fierce battle broke out between the Lebanese Army and terrorist group Fatah-al-Islam which left hundreds dead and razed the camp to the ground.
More than 32,000 people were forced to flee their homes and although lucky to have escaped with their lives, they were left with absolutely nothing and displaced again.
Melad Salmeh, 28, is a qualified nurse and teacher and now runs a youth centre just outside the old camp.
When 7DAYS visited the camp with the UN last week, he told us how the community had been convinced it would only be away from home for a few days after the bombs began to drop.
But they were left numb when they discovered the horror that awaited them when they set foot inside Nahr El Bared to survey the damage for the first time four months later.
Salmeh, who was the last medic to leave the camp as he tended casualties, said: "Many of the people in the camp have lived through conflict before when they had to leave Palestine. They know war and they know suffering but this time nobody thought it would be so serious. We believed we would be able to return to our homes.
"One day, there were bombs falling all around and people were finally allowed to leave. I found one old woman in the street who said she would not leave with her family because she remembered what happened in 1948 when she left Palestine - she had thought then she would return. I told her it would be okay - I promised her she would be able to come back to her house but I was wrong. I felt so sad. People didn't take anything with - they thought they would be back. They lost everything."
The war broke out after members of Fatah-al-Islam robbed a bank in Tripoli. Some of the raiders were killed by armed forces and the terrorists retaliated by attacking a Lebanese Army checkpoint before taking cover, holed up inside the camp.
The civilians were trapped for three days - Fatah-al-Islam snipers were shooting at anyone who tried to leave while army rockets slammed into buildings that crumbled around them.
Emergency services and medical aid was not allowed to enter. Eventually, the terrorists held their fire long enough for refugees to leave in convoy out of Nahr El Bared on the third day of clashes. But for 42 civilians, including children, it was too late. A total of 287 Fatah-al-Islam members were also killed, along with 169 Lebanese soldiers.
"My brother was hit on the second day," Abdelhafiz Khalil, explains.
"He and his family had been hiding in an old undergound shelter but he decided to go outside to get some food for his family. He was stood outside the medical centre when a bomb fell close to them," he added.
Shrapnel from the blast had ripped through 38-year-old Abdelhait Khalil's back. As no ambulances were allowed inside, the only option was to take him to the nearby medical centre where Salmeh tried in vain to save his life.
Khalil said: "They tried to help him but there was no medicine and he had lost a lot of blood. In the end it was too much and he died three hours later. He had a wife and three children."
Two years after the carnage, some families have been able to return to temporary accommodation which is a mixture of prefabs, steel containers and breeze block buildings but many of the others still live in tiny garages, ramshackle sheds or in other refugee camps.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) is working hard to provide the best it can for the displaced population and battling to find the funds to pay for the complete rebuild of the new camp.
The eight-phase reconstruction of Nahr El Bared will take several years but in the meantime, infrastructure is beginning to return to the area slowly. New schools are planned and community and training centres have opened to help people rebuild their lives.
UNRWA is issuing loans to give businesses the kick-start they need to reopen.
Before the conflict, Nahr El Bared was a thriving commercial centre with hundreds of shops stalls and services offering everything from fruit and veg to dentistry. It formed an important part of the economy in North Lebanon and attracted customers from all over the country.
Nahr El Bared information officer, Fadi El Tayyar, explains: "It was very important. People would come here because you could get everything, a low price and even on credit. We are trying to rebuild that now but it is very difficult with security restrictions."
The camp area controlled by military checkpoints and residents are not allowed in without a security permit - without exception.
Visitors have to get special permission from the army to enter, a process than can take weeks, making it impossible for Nahr El Bared to become the successful market place it once was.
UNRWA and the refugees hope the army will relax its crippling restrictions and the people say they are trying to stay positive.
"We have to have hope that one day we can return to our homes and have our lives again," said Salmeh.
"We can see changes happening here now but for some people, it's not enough yet. They need to see concrete blocks and building work before they believe they will have a home again."
By Nichola Jones
© 7Days 2009
