Grief Veils Eid for Syrian Refugees

Palestinian camps in Lebanon are just some of the places Syrian refugees find shelter in. Credit: Rebecca Murray/IPS.By Rebecca MurraySIDON, Lebanon , Oct 16 2013 (IPS) This week the Islamic world marks one of its holiest holidays, Eid al-Adha – honouring Ibrahim’s commitment to sacrifice his first-born son to Allah. The festival involves large family gatherings, bountiful lunches and generous gift giving. While most are celebrating, despair is palpable among the poverty-stricken female Syrian refugees receiving psychological counseling at a community centre run by the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) in the coastal town of Sidon. “I don’t want to leave the house,” quietly sobbed Fatima, a 32-year-old mother of four who fled Aleppo after family members were killed and her husband’s business was destroyed by the war a year ago.“Our displacement from our country has made us old.” Her tear-stained face framed by a cheap black burqa, Fatima said she now lives in a crowded school with other Syrian families in the volatile Ein al-Helweih refugee camp, Lebanon’s largest settlement established to house Palestinian refugees more than 60 years ago. Since they arrived, Fatima’s family anxiously watched from the sidelines as a battle raged at the camp between the Lebanese army and supporters of a firebrand Sunni cleric in June. This is a congested, hostile environment where they must navigate checkpoints daily. “I have sympathy for the Palestinians because they live...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: Global & Universal Authors: Tags: Active Citizens Aid Arabs Rise for Rights Armed Conflicts Civil Society Crime & Justice Development & Aid Featured Gender Gender Identity Gender Violence Global Geopolitics Global Governance Headlines Human Rights Humanitaria Source Type: news