- Shatila refugee camp
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Coordinates: 33°51′46.26″N 35°29′54.17″E / 33.86285°N 35.4983806°E
Shatila camp, 2006
The Shatila refugee camp (Arabic: مخيم شاتيلا) (also Chatila refugee camp) is a long-term refugee camp for Palestinian refugees, set up by UNRWA in 1949. The camp is located within the Lebanese capital Beirut. As of December 2003, it housed 12,235 registered refugees.[1] It is most widely known as the site of the Sabra and Shatila massacre in September 1982, but also played a significant role in the 1982 Lebanon war and the 1985 to 1987 war of the camps.
Contents
Geography and demographics
The Shatila camp is located in southern Beirut. Originally hosting hundreds of refugees, it has grown to more than 12,000 registered Palestinian refugees. Many of these refugees may live outside the camp, while non-Palestinians also live in the camp. The entire camp comprises approximately one square kilometer and thus has an exceptionally high population density.[2]
Public services
UNRWA operates one health center and two primary schools within the camp. NGOs active in the camp include Al-Najda, Beit Atfal Al-Soumoud, Norwegian Peoples' Aid, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society and the Association Najdeh.[3] [4]
History
Lebanon War
Main article: Sabra and Shatila massacre
Commemoration of the massacre in the camps, 2003The Shatila camp housed the offices of the PLO and as a consequence suffered heavy bombardment from Israeli military forces during the summer war of 1982. During a September 1982 push by the Israeli military into west Beirut, the Lebanese Christian Phalangists and the Israeli army conducted a raid on the Sabra neighborhood and the Shatila refugee camp. The attacks resulted in the massacre of an estimated 3500 civilians, primarily women and children.
Israel began to leave Beirut shortly after the news of the massacre broke. The protection of the camps was entrusted to Italy. Following attacks on the peacekeepers, Italy left Lebanon. The safety of the camps was then entrusted to the Amal militia.
Two subsequent massacres took place at the camps after the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.
See also
External links and references
- Shatila, articles from UNWRA
- watch "Isti'mariyah - windward between Naples and Baghdad"
- Are Knudsen and S. Hanafi (Eds.) Palestinian Refugees: Identity, Space and Place in the Levant. Routledge. 2010.
Palestinian refugee camps1 locations and populations as of 2005 
Gaza Strip
986,034 refugees
Jordan
2,127,877 refugees
Lebanon
404,170 refugees
Syria
432,048 refugees West Bank
699,817 refugeesAl-Shati (Beach) 76,109 Bureij 30,059 Deir al-Balah 20,188 Jabalya 175,646 Khan Yunis 60,662 Maghazi 22,536 Nuseirat 64,233 Rafah 90,638 Canada Camp disbanded Beddawi 15,695 Burj el-Barajneh 19,526 Burj el-Shemali 18,134 Dbayeh 4,223 Dikwaneh destroyed Ein el-Hilweh 44,133 El-Buss 9,840 Jisr el-Basha destroyed Mar Elias 1,406 Mieh Mieh 5,078 Nabatieh destroyed Nahr el-Bared 28,358 Rashidieh 24,679 Sabra Shatila 11,998 Tel al-Zaatar destroyed Wavel 7,357 Abu Dis Aida 3,260 Am'ari 8,083 Aqabat Jabr 5,197 al-'Arrub 9,180 Askar 31,894 'Azza 1,828 Balata 41,681 Deir Ammar 2,189 Dheisheh 10,923 Ein Beit al-Ma' 6,221 Ein as-Sultan 1,888 Far'a 12,836 Fawwar 7,072 Jalazone 9,284 Jenin 35,050 Kalandia 9,188 Nur Shams 8,179 Shuafat (Shu'fat) 9,567 Tulkarm 17,259 1 The UNRWA definition of a "Palestinian refugee" is a person "whose normal place of residence was Palestine between June 1946 and May 1948, who lost both their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict ... UNRWA's definition of a refugee also covers the descendants of persons who became refugees in 1948." [5]Categories:- Populated places established in 1949
- Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon
- Israel–Lebanon conflict
- Lebanon geography stubs
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