El-Buss refugee camp

El-Buss refugee camp
El-Buss refugee camp
Coordinates: 33°16′21″N 35°12′36″E / 33.27250°N 35.21000°ECoordinates: 33°16′21″N 35°12′36″E / 33.27250°N 35.21000°E
Country  Lebanon
Governorate South
District Tyre
Population 11,254

El-Buss (Arabic: مخيم البص‎) is a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon. It is located north of Tyre.

History

El-Buss was originally a camp for Armenian refugees, set up in 1935–36 by the French authorities in Mandatory Lebanon.[1][2] Later, when Palestinian refugees began arriving in independent Lebanon, El-Buss was one of the first sites which was assigned as a Palestinian transit camp.[1][2] The majority of the first wave of Palestinians who settled in El-Buss were Palestinian Christians from Haifa and Akka.[1]

Soon the camp was overcrowded and more camps were set up in other parts of the country. Initially, Armenians and Palestinians cohabited in the camp. The Armenian inhabitants later left.[2]

Gradually, large parts of the Christian population moved out of the camp.[2] The camp had 3,911 inhabitants in 1968. By 1977, the UNRWA census put the population at 4,643.[1] By 1999, UNRWA estimated the population to be 9,498.[2] Compared with other refugee camps in Lebanon, the El-Buss refugee camp has been characterized by a higher degree of integration between Lebanese and Palestinians. A public hospital set up inside the camp area is still used by Lebanese citizens. Palestinian Christians in the camp attend the same church as Lebanese Christians.[2]

Arab–Israeli conflict

The camp suffered extensive damage in Israeli air and navy attacks in March-April 1978.[1] A contemporary United Nations report said that only half of the houses in the camp were not either badly damaged or destroyed during the 1982 Israeli invasion.[3][4] The Advisory Committee on Human Rights of the American Friends Service Committee termed the destruction of homes in El-Buss "systematic".[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 P. Edward Haley; Lewis W. Snider (1 January 1979). Lebanon in Crisis: Participants and Issues. Syracuse University Press. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-8156-2210-9.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Rebecca Roberts (30 September 2010). Palestinians in Lebanon: Refugees Living with Long-term Displacement. I.B.Tauris. pp. 76, 203. ISBN 978-0-85772-054-2.
  3. ↑ Clive Jones; Sergio Catignani (4 December 2009). Israel and Hizbollah: An Asymmetric Conflict in Historical and Comparative Perspective. Routledge. p. 34. ISBN 978-1-135-22920-7.
  4. ↑ Michael E. Jansen (1 May 1983). The battle of Beirut: why Israel invaded Lebanon. South End Press. p. 19. ISBN 978-0-89608-174-1.
  5. ↑ Cheryl A. Rubenberg (1 January 1989). Israel and the American National Interest: A Critical Examination. University of Illinois Press. p. 281. ISBN 978-0-252-06074-8.