Palestinian refugees return to streets as Lebanon camp clears weapons from public life
A partial disarmament agreement has calmed the Palestinian refugee camp of Mieh Mieh, where violent factional clashes displaced residents for months.
MIEH MIEH CAMP, Lebanon — It seemed clear that the people of the Mieh Mieh refugee camp had finally — however cautiously — reclaimed their own streets on the afternoon of May 24. Seven months since deadly clashes in the Palestinian refugee camp near Sidon in southern Lebanon, shopkeepers, families, elderly people and children have replaced the armed fighters who had forced many residents to evacuate the camp and seek shelter elsewhere.
“We spent months as refugees again,” university student Sarah Mawed told Al-Monitor. Lebanon’s camps have become semipermanent settlements over the years, but when Mawed and her family were forced to leave, the displacement made them double refugees.
