Bureij

Infobox Palestinian Authority muni
name=Bureij Camp


imgsize=
caption=
arname=مخيّم البريج
meaning=
founded=
type=ref
typefrom=1949
altOffSp=Breij
altUnoSp=al-Burayj
governorate=db
latd=31|latm=26|lats=22.31|latNS=N
longd=34 |longm=24|longs=10.58|longEW=E
population=30,059
popyear=2006
area=529
areakm=0.5
mayor=

Bureij ( _ar. البريج) is a Palestinian refugee camp located in the central Gaza Strip east of the Salah ad-Din road in the Deir al-Balah Governorate. The camp's total land area is 529 dunums and in 2005, it had a population of 30,059 registered refugees.

The camp was established in 1949 with a population of 13,000 Palestinians from the broader Gaza area. A small percentage of the refugees were housed in the British army barracks but the bulk of them were housed in tents. The UNRWA built concrete homes in 1950 to replace the tents.

Most of the refugees today like those in most camps in the Gaza Strip today live in densely populated shelters. The camp does not have a sewage system and most waste accumalates in the Wadi Gaza, a stream north of the camp and as a result poses a health hazard. Most of the camp's water comes from an Israeli water company.

Bureij has six primary and two secondary schools with a population of 9,306 pupils at the end of 2004. All schools are operated by the UNRWA.

On the night of 28 August 1953 bombs were thrown through the windows of huts in which refugees were sleeping and, as they fled, they were attacked by small arms and automatic weapons. The casualties were twenty killed, twenty-seven seriously wounded and thirty-five less seriously wounded. The Mixed Armistice Commission, in an emergency meeting, adopted by a majority vote a resolution according to which the attack was made by a group of armed Israelis. Major General Bennike Chief of Staff of the United Nations Truce on Supervision Organization stated that it was "probable in view of the fact that a quarter of the Israel complaints during the preceding four weeks referred to infiltration in this area" that the likely explanation was a "ruthless reprisal raid". [ [http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/9a798adbf322aff38525617b006d88d7/017eefb458011c9d05256722005e5499!OpenDocument] UN Doc S/630] of 27 October 1953]

References

* [http://www.un.org/unrwa/refugees/gaza/bureij.html Camp Profiles: Bureij] , UNWRA.

External links

* [http://www.bureij.com/ Al-Bureij Rehabilitation Society] , 7 April, 2007.
* [http://www.unfpa.org/news/news.cfm?ID=676 A Woman's Centre Takes on Domestic Violence in the Gaza Strip] , 14 September, United Nations Population Fund, 2005.

Audio and video

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/video/38560000/rm/_38560515_mideast20_reynolds_vi.ram Heavy gunbattles right in the heart of the Bureij refugee camp] , BBC News, 6 December, 2002.
* [http://www.npr.org/programs/atc/transcripts/2003/mar/030303.gradstein.html Profile: Bureij Refugee Camp Recovering From Most Recent Israeli Incursion in the Gaza Strip] , National Public Radio, 3 March, 2003.