Lebanon : amongst the Palestinian refugees
Violent confrontation broke out at the beginning of the week between the Lebanese army and militants from the Islamist group Fatah Al-Islam, entrenched in the Palestinian Nahr el Bared refugee camp in the North of the country. Fifteen thousand people, more than half the camp's refugees, have already fled the fighting. 8,000 of them have found shelter in reception centres and the rest are with families on the outskirts of the town of Badawi. Handicap International has sent out a team to assess the needs of these refugees and its partner associations in the area. Handicap International is also remaining alert to the possible need for providing assistance in clearing unexploded devices in the combat zones. HI, which has been working in the Lebanon since 1992, provided emergency assistance for populations affected by the conflict that took place in the country last summer. HI also has unexploded ordnance clearance teams at work in the country as well.