Introduction
Ever since the end of the armed hostilities in NBC, in May 2007, the camp and its adjacent area also known as the ‘new camp’ were declared a military zone where ‘exceptional measures’ were applied in order to maintain the security situation for the safety of both Lebanese and Palestinians under control. Today, more than four years after the end of the crisis, the exceptional measures are still applied.
Access Permits System and Entry Measures
The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) played a vital role in demining and removal of unexploded ordnance (UXOs) from the area of the reconstruction site within the old camp. To date, the NBC residents as well as visitors still need access permits to enter both the old and the new camps, except for persons holding Lebanese ID card, their access to the new camp has been recently administrated by new set of security procedures.
Access permits are meant for several categories:
- Residents’ Permit: it is a permanent permit meant exclusively for the NBC residents who are originally from NBC and have lost their homes. A group of this category is still living outside the camp due to a lack of available spaces inside the camp;
- Visitors’ Permit: destined for visitors from outside the camp not holding a Lebanese identity card. The permit should be retrieved from the LAF station at Kobbeh, hights of Tripoli (Lebanon);
- Workers Permit - Old Camp: intended to the contractors and obtained via UNRWA to work inside the Old Camp;
- NGO Permits: meant for civil society institution and NGO’s staff working inside the camp.
New Measures:
Lately, the LAF amended some access measures as follows:
- Allowing the access to Lebanese ID card holders: citizens holding the Lebanese ID card are allowed to enter the adjacent area only by using their ID card, with no need of any permit, from al Abdeh entrance. The LAF shall carry out some registration measure at its check-point;
- Increase the number of entrée points to Lebanese ID card holders: At the onset, access for holders of the Lebanese ID card was restricted to one entry, the camp’s northern passageway of el Abdeh. Throughout May 2011, the LAF released instructions allowing holders of the Lebanese ID cards to enter via several access points;
- Access for Women and children without any need of permits: during June 2011, the LAF allowed women and children to enter without any permit to the adjacent area after registering at the LAF check-point on site with no needs for additional permits;
- Access measures for UNRWA schools located in the Old Camp: in its September 16th NBC Updates newsletter, UNRWA published a summary of the new access measures that were agreed upon by the LAF intelligence unit operating in the area to enter the Old Camp’s UNRWA schools. They can be listed as follows:
a. UNRWA teachers and non-teaching staff: working in the schools will be able to enter the roads leading around NBC Old Camp in order to access Schools 1a, 4 and 5, upon showing their valid UNRWA ID card (i.e. not expired). UNRWA’s Northern Management Unit will submit to the Army Intelligence the list of staff names and copies of UNRWA ID cards. This will allow the army to cross-check names of those passing through the checkpoints at either end of the sea-road.
b. Male students under the age of 14, female staff members and female students: do NOT require a permit to enter NBC Adjacent Areas, or the roads leading to the schools’ compound.
c. Male students above the age of 14 and who are residents of the new camp: do NOT require a permit to enter the roads leading to the schools’ compound, as they may access the schools with the NBC residency permit already in their possession. If they do not have a residency permit in their own name, but are on the permit of their father, they need to carry a copy of this permit in order to access the schools.
d. Male students above the age of 14 who are NOT residents in the new camp: must possess an NBC permit in order to access NBC. In this case, UNRWA-NMU will submit a list of all students with their full name, father and mother’s names, and date of birth to the Army Intelligence, which will issue a permit valid for one year.
e. Fathers of students in the new schools do NOT require a special permit if they already reside in the new camp: Fathers who do NOT reside in the new camp must have access permits. In this case, UNRWA-NMU will submit a list of the names of the students' fathers, with their full name, their father’s names, and date of birth to the Army Intelligence, which will issue a permit valid for one year. The mothers of students do not need access permits.