EU donates $13.4 mn to refugee camp in Lebanon

Beirut, Oct 7 The European Union said it has provided $13.4 million to support the efforts of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) to reconstruct the Nahr el-Bared Camp (NBC) in Lebanon.

"These funds come in addition to the 24 million euros ($267 million) previously donated by the European Union to contribute to rebuilding the NBC," Xinhua news agency quoted a statement by the bloc on Thursday.

"We hope that this support will contribute to settling grievances surrounding the 2007 conflict and to provide better protection, shelter and dignity to the lives of many Palestinian refugees in this country," said Christina Lassen, EU's ambassador to Lebanon.

From the funding the camp has so far received, it is estimated that 11,062 people, accounting for 72 per cent of those originally displaced, will return to their homes by mid-2017.

The UNRWA, a relief and human development agency established in 1949, has a specific mandate to assist and protect some 5 million registered Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

IANS