In its Protection Monitoring Report for the 2nd quarter of the year 2022, UNRWA reported that:
“Focal points in Tyre, Beqaa and the north reported that the prevalence of child labour was increasing as the summer school holidays began, and in response to the economic situation. Focal points in north and central areas noted that child labour was more common among Syrian refugees than Palestinians, but that some PRL and PRS have been involved. Common activities for child workers include collecting garbage and plastic, working in supermarkets, gas- stations, and bakeries, or as mechanics and delivery-boys. Some were also said to be involved in organised criminal activity such as theft of public utility equipment like man-hole covers and the delivery of drugs. Children engaged in child labour include school drop-outs as well as some who work after school or during holidays. Focal points in Saida noted that the growing financial and psychosocial pressures on families, which are often manifested in increased child labour, are having effects on children’s performance at school and thus their future prospects. Child marriage was also mentioned as an ongoing concern in most areas though some focal points described it as more wide- spread amongst Syrian than Palestinian refugees. Among Palestinians, it is said to be more prevalent among PRS than PRL, except in Ein el Hilweh camp in Saida where both PRL and PRS were reported to be involved. Focal points in central Lebanon and Tyre areas speculated that rates of child marriage may be dropping due to families allocating scarce savings to basic needs rather than the costs associated with marriage.”
(Source: UNRWA, “UNRWA Protection Monitoring Report – Quarter 2 (Q2) 2022”, 26 August 2022, pp. 7-8)
In their “Syria, Lebanon and Jordan Emergency Appeal 2022, UNRWA wrote:
“In Lebanon, UNRWA recorded the arrival of 409 PRS families from Syria during the first half of 2021, the highest number of arrivals since 2017. During the same period, PRS returns to Syria dropped. […] in Lebanon. As a result of the economic decline and COVID-19, the protection situation for many Palestine refugees has sharply deteriorated. Over the course of 2021, there has been an increase in interpersonal disputes escalating into violence in the camps as people have become more frustrated and desperate. Violence against women and children has continued to increase, closely linked to people’s mental well-being and their ability to constructively cope. Instances of conduct in breach of the rights of the child and human rights and humanitarian law have reportedly increased, including child labour, drug abuse amongst the youth and related participation of boys and girls in drug-distribution networks, as well as children’s involvement with armed groups.”
(Source: UNRWA, “Syria, Lebanon and Jordan Emergency Appeal 2022”, 18 January 2022, p. 16 citing UNRWA Protection Quarterly Monitoring Reports, Q1 and Q2, 2021)
UNRWA outlined also the involvement of children in drug distribution and transportation:
“Substance abuse and involvement in often violent drug related networks is anecdotally reported as on the rise, in particular for adolescents, youth, and even children, with an increasing number resorting to the distribution or transportation of drugs. Data is limited on this growing phenomenon due to its sensitive nature.”
(Source: UNRWA: “Protection brief: Palestine refugees living in Lebanon”, September 2020, p. 3)
In its Protection Monitoring Report for the last quarter of the year 2021, UNRWA reported that:
“3. Child Protection
A large majority of focal points considered children felt either not safe at all or faced some safety concerns, with children’s feelings of safety said to be similar to during quarter three. They attributed this to the economic situation and parents’ focus on survival. However, the return to school was said to have a positive impact generally, leading to children spending less time on the streets and being less engaged in child labour.
[ ...] Despite the return to school, the most frequently reported child protection concerns continued to be child labour, violence against children and street-connected children. Most focal points considered all groups were equally affected. Focal points in Tyre highlighted the impact of the Bourj Shemali explosion and subsequent shootings on children’s mental health and wellbeing, and in Ein El HIlweh they described the lasting effects on children of the September shootings and the murder outside the school.
The number of focal points reporting that they were aware of children being physically harmed was similar in quarter four to quarter three, with 11 reporting that they were aware of children being injured as a result of violence and four reporting being aware of child victims of sexual abuse. Almost half focal points had heard of substance use or dealing among children at least once in the last month, and while generally focal points reported that children were working less, in Tyre they reported that children were increasingly involved in exchanging money and in the Beqaa that families were sending children to work to support them financially. Boys in the north were singled out as being less safe than girls because girls do not often leave the camps, whereas boys are unsafe when doing so. Focal points in Tyre indicated that there had been an increase in child sexual harassment in camps during the quarter and that too often perpetrators are well-connected, undermining accountability mechanisms.
The economic situation, combined with ongoing COVID-19 related restrictions, continued to impact children’s wellbeing. Focal points explained children had no toys, could no longer play games such as football and expressed worry they were not having a typical childhood. In NLA, focal points described the example of a student wrapping his shoes with nylon bags to prevent the rain from reaching his feet as illustrative of the struggles families are facing. A nation-wide survey on nutrition found that four percent of Palestinian refugee children suffered from wasting the most immediate, visible and life-threatening form of malnutrition where children become too thin and their immune systems are weak – compared to 1.8 percent of Lebanese and 2.4 per cent of Syrians.17 Across areas, food insecurity was a rising concern for children, reported to contribute to feelings of unsafety among children in CLA and progressively emphasised in areas such as Saida.”
(Source: UNRWA, “UNRWA Protection Monitoring Report – Quarter Four 2021”, 6 April 2022, pp. 6-7-8)