350 Syrian families to spend Eid al-Adha in open air after demolishing their tents in northern Lebanon
Beirut – Layal Khoroubi – North-Press Agency
On Thursday, the Lebanese authorities have demolished 350 concrete tents housing Syrian refugees in Rihaniyah refugee camp in the town of Benin in the northern Lebanese province of Aakkar.
According to special sources from the town told North-Press that bulldozers belonging to the Lebanese army have leveled all concrete housing in addition to the commercial market which consists of 10 tents that provide refugees with their simple daily needs without any prior warning, or warnings of evacuation.
The sources added that some families had fled to other nearby camps, but the vast majority would stay in the open air.
The sources also quoted the refugees as stunned by the demolitions that preceded Eid al-Adha two days ago and expressed their concern that the relief organizations would be delayed by providing them with wood and tents due to the Eid holiday.
Al-Rihaniya camp is sheltering more than 1,500 Syrian refugees who were displaced from Homs about three years ago by the military operations.
The responsible committee for monitoring the conditions of the camp, which includes a number of relief and medical activists, estimates that more than 90% of the camp’s residents are women and children.
In November 2016, the Lebanese authorities had previously warned the camp’s residents to evacuate it, but the authorities later had changed their minds until the demolition was carried out in accordance with the decision of the Supreme Defense Council which was issued last April to destroy all camps with concrete tents, explaining its decision of the fears of the resettlement of Syrian refugees. At a time, when the concrete roofs were a shelter for refugees to protect them from cold and storms in high places.