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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.
Armed gunmen attend the funeral of Fathi Zaydan, a Fatah official responsible for the Palestinian camp of Mieh Mieh, after an explosion that killed him yesterday, during his funeral in Mieh Mieh Palestinian refugee camp, near the port-city of Sidon, Lebanon, April 13, 2016. The wall shows a graffiti of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho - GF10000381452

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.

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