Japanese Committee for the Children of Palestine (JCCP) is a Japanese NGO that aims to support Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. JCCP is working on a partnership with The National Institution of Social Care and Vocational Training (NISCVT), an organization in Lebanon that is also known as BAS, Beit Atfal Al Smoud.
On May 21 and 22, 2007, NISCVT sent information to its partner organizations in Europe and Asia about the present situation in Naher El-Bared Palestinian Refugee Camp near Tripoli, Lebanon. These are the extracts from the e-mails sent by NISCVT.
E-mail on May 21:
With great sorry and bitter sad feelings we convey to you the real picture of Naher El-Bared Camp. Severe fighting is still taking place with causalities mainly among innocent civilians who are trapped inside their houses, with no way to the outside. No organization is able to enter the camp till now to answer the needs of the people. The need is great for drinking water which is usually pumped to the houses by electric motors, now with no electricity inside the camp; the people are left with no water. Luckily injured persons were evacuated last night to the nearby hospitals since there are no hospitals inside the camp.
Situation inside the camp is getting worse, no place is safe, frightened helpless people are over crowded inside few shelters that are not prepared or equipped to receive people. The fighting is targeting every place in the depth of the camp and snipers are targeting every moving shadow. The Red Cross managed last night to evacuate about 30 injured people. The only safe clinic inside the camp received today 40 injured children, the number of those killed is rising and some are still in the streets with no way to pull their bodies. The need for water and bread is becoming intense with children crying inside the shelters asking for food and water.
E-mail on May 22:
Meetings with NGOs and PRCS is continuous
to prepare the grounds to receive the survivals from Naher El-Bared once
a seize fire agreement is reached. It is expected that families would leave
Naher El-Bared in large numbers and the first station would be Beddawi
camp. BAS is cooperating with other NGOs and a committee was organized
to make preparations to receive those people. Our center in Beddawi will
be ready to shelter a number of families; UNRWA is expected to take the
greatest responsibility in securing food and relief material for the people.
Inside El-Bared there are four doctors
working with few nurses to serve the injured people with the minimum supplies
they have and of course no surgeries can be done. PRCS with the help of
the Red Cross was able to evacuate last night a number of 17 wounded people
11 of them were received in Beddawi hospital and 6 admitted to private
hospitals in the region. Three children one of them 3 years old managed
to escape from inside Naher El-Bared without their parents, they were taken
to Beddawi for care and shelter.
JCCP
Tel : +81 (0)3-3227-2706 FAX
: +81 (0)3-6312-5206
Email : jccp@msc.biglobe.ne.jp
HP : http://www5e.biglobe.ne.jp/~JCCP