SIDON, Lebanon, 18 October 2007 — Eleven families of the militant Fatah Islam group left the southern Lebanese city of Sidon yesterday on their way to Syria following weeks of negotiations over their departure, officials said. The families were among 17 who fled the fighting between the militants and the Lebanese Army in the north and sought refugee at the Al-Arqam Mosque in Sidon.
Six families stayed behind, including that of Shaker Youssef Al-Abbasi, the movement’s fugitive leader, for not having proper documents, an official with the General Security Department said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
Early yesterday, the families, including women wearing black cloaks that only revealed their eyes, boarded two General Security buses in front of the Al-Arqam Mosque and left accompanied by two vehicles, one for the Lebanese Red Cross and another for the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International said yesterday the Lebanese government must do more to alleviate the miserable conditions of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon who are treated like “second-class citizens.”
In a report “Exiled and Suffering: Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon,” the London-based human rights group said the refugees face discrimination in education, jobs, health care and housing.
More than half the 400,000 registered Palestinian refugees in Lebanon since their families fled their homes after the creation of Israel in 1948 live in 12 cramped, squalid and often-unsanitary camps scattered across the country.
“The continuing restrictions on Palestinian refugees, which effectively render them the status of second-class residents, continue to be little short of a scandal and they should be lifted without further procrastination or delay,” Amnesty said.
