After months of drought,
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On the shores of the Mediterranean in southern Lebanon,
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Standing on the broken concrete in a destroyed house, this man says he and his wife were eating dinner when three waves crashed through the building. Now,
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The United Nations says this community is already one of the poorest among Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. A new poverty study funded by the European Union says everyone in Jal al-Bahr lives below the poverty line,
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Development specialists say communities of Palestinians living outside refugee camps in Lebanon can sometimes be better off than those living in the camps. Rupen Das of the Lebanese Society for Education and Social Development says Palestinians cannot own property in Lebanon,
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"Their housing is not permanent," said Das. "They are vulnerable to the elements. If there is any conflict there is no militia protects them. There is no Lebanese Army around the camp that protects them."
Palestinian refugees in Lebanon are essentially foreigners, even though most are born and raised in Lebanon. In Jal al-Bahr, they are not allowed to rebuild their own properties without a special permit. Residents say often they are not allowed to repair their ramshackle houses. Those who build without a permit are thrown in jail.
Director Salvatore Lombardo of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon says his agency also is not allowed to re-build settlements like Jal al-Bahr. But he says, even if the agency could rebuild,
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"We have not rehabilitated any shelter anywhere because of lack of funds," said Lombardo. "Here are 4,
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With no other aid organizations in the settlement, and the United Nations unable to help,
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