 BEIRUT - International donors pledged about $20 million on Monday to help Palestinian refugees made homeless by a 15-week battle between the Lebanese army and Islamist militants holed up inside their refugee camp. The Nahr Al Bared camp was home to about 40,000 before fighting erupted on May 20 but is now largely destroyed. Prime Minister Fouad Siniora called a donorsÂ’ conference to seek funds to reconstruct the camp in north Lebanon.
| I'll provide the salt, and Deacon Blues will provide a horse that will pull the plow. |
The amount pledged fell well short of estimates of what was needed to cover the costs of adequate relief for the refugees, the reconstruction of the camp and help for nearby municipalities. The government estimated the total required at $382.5 million.
How about this: they're not 'refugees' any more! Their grandparents might (maybe) have been, their parents definitely not, and there's no way these people are refugees. They don't get a camp. They don't get a tent. They get a bus ticket to somewhere else. They can scratch out a living in some other gawdforsaken place without the UNRWA. And preferably without guns.
But if you have to rebuild the camp, put it in Mauritania. The Lebanese have suffered enough. |
The United States led pledges with $10 million.
| What? My tax dollars are going into this? |
Germany offered 4 million euros ($5.52 million), Norway 10 million crowns ($1.81 million) and Italy about 2 million euros. Most other countries refrained from setting specific amounts. Saudi Arabia had pledged $12 million during the fighting and the United Arab Emirates pledged $5 million.
| But that's ammo money for the widows. |
UNRWA, the UN agency which cares for Palestinian refugees, said it needed $55 million ‘to fund the first year of rehabilitation and emergency assistance to refugees from the Nahr Al Bared refugee camp’.
| I'm tellin' ya, salt is cheaper. |
Hoda Elturk, UNRWA spokeswoman, said: ‘We are very happy with the response of the donors and we are expecting more pledges to come.’
| "These pledges will keep the bureauocracy fully funded!" she added. |
The governmentÂ’s estimate includes UNRWAÂ’s $55 million request, $249 million for rebuilding the camp and $78.5 million for the nearby municipalities and compensation for those affected in the surrounding areas. Most of the refugees fled to the nearby Beddawi camp in the early days of the fighting and are not expected to return to Nahr Al Bared soon. Most of its buildings are in ruins and the camp is littered with landmines. |