Solidarity among women in refugee camps in Lebanon as a form of empowerment

Temps de lecture : 9 minutes

Solidarity among women in refugee camps in Lebanon as a form of empowerment

24.10.2020 

Written by Natacha Bernerd
Translated by Caroline Feldner  

Palestinian refugee women in Lebanon are victims of imprisonment which is represented by the camp. In spite of this isolation, they implement empowerment strategies, notably thanks to the solidarity they build among themselves.

In this day and age, the issue of refugees is one of the biggest humanitarian problems. Women and girls represent more than half of the refugee population and are the most vulnerable to unequal access to food and care, early marriages, prostitution networks and daily occurrences of violence. What triggered the massive displacement of Palestinians to neighboring countries such as Lebanon was the nakba (which means “catastrophe” in Arabic) which took place in 1948, following the Second World War and the recognition of the State of Israel by the UN. Since then, refugee camps have multiplied and are now becoming permanent structures in Lebanon.

The Palestinians and UNRWA, a special status

Palestinian refugees depend on UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East), a UN body that has been specifically put in place to address the needs of this population.

UNRWA leases land from the host state to be used by refugees. This camp is basically a temporary space that had to be quickly dismantled following an UNRWA integration policy that never saw the light of day. According to UNRWA, there are 12 refugee camps in Lebanon. Refugees do not own the infrastructure in the camp but are nevertheless free to use it.

UNRWA’s responsibility in these camps is limited to the provision of services and the administration of its facilities. UNRWA does not own, manage or monitor the camps. Since 1969, this management has been carried out by the People’s Committees, which have gradually revitalized the camps, especially by connecting them to public infrastructure (water, electricity). Their members are appointed by the Palestinian political factions. They function in the same way as municipal institutions. UNRWA is the first employer of the camps and contracts mostly Palestinian staff.

Refugees from Palestine are the only ones in the world who depend on this entity. The fact that UNRWA grants their descendants refugee status, unlike the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), locks them legally into this status and socially into the difficult conditions that result, especially since returning to Palestinian territories is impossible. UNRWA refugees renounce their citizenship, having neither the recognition nor the protection of their State. They therefore lose their political, legal, security and social rights and can enjoy no international protection.

Deprived of citizenship, of nationality, women are trapped in the vicious circle of exile due to the transmission of their refugee status, as well as in the camp when they do not have the resources to settle elsewhere.

The camp as a limiting and confining space

Even if it is not always hermetically sealed and the borders are porous between some camps and the city, as is the case for the camps of Chatila and Bourj el Barajneh located in the southern suburbs of Beirut, the refugee camp is an inward-looking space. It creates dire living conditions, particularly due to unemployment, which opens the way to numerous trafficking and illegal activities.

This environment is dangerous^[1]More details in this article: Inès DAOUDI, “Gender and Security Issues in Refugee Camps”, 20.09.2020, Gender in Geopolitics Institute, https://igg-geo.org/?p=2031&lang=en for women, who have no place in the public space of the camp: they are the first victims of violence, including sexual harassment, rape and theft. They are also victims of violence within the household and the family (domestic violence, early marriages). They are at the receiving end of all the misery of the camp and men’s frustration for not being able to carry out their traditional role as heads of household.

However, this imprisonment does not prevent women from developing positive and proactive strategies in order to become empowered. Paradoxically, they draw on the traditional, even conservative, environment to gain access to a form of emancipation and ideologically overcome “encamping”^[2]Expression used by Michel Agier to refer to the situation that locks the refugees within the camp, as “out of place”.. Michel Agier, « l’encampement du monde », « Réfugiés … Continue reading. They thus use the camp as a resource towards empowerment. The camp then takes on a double dimension: first of all, there is the real camp, in which individuals jostle each other, where insalubrity is striking, and poverty is dominant.

Then there is the symbolic camp, the one that is tolerated, for which the refugees develop affection, witnessing their lives, their encounters and their memories. The symbolic camp is the bearer of hopes and projects. It then “becomes a necessary condition for survival, since for there to be biological survival, there must be social and psychological survival”^[3]Caron, Roxane and Dominique Damant. « Survivre dans un camp de réfugiés : Entre réel et symbolique (note de recherche) ». Anthropologie et Sociétés, vol. 38, no 2, July 2014, p. … Continue reading. This symbolic attachment of women to the camp paradoxically gives it a “raison d’être”. They organize themselves and encourage each other around different activities such as humanitarian action, the development of an economic activity, the family sphere and through the transmission of Palestinian identity.

Helping each other through humanitarian action

Between different communities, such as between Syrian and Palestinian women, prejudices have been strong since the new displacements to Lebanon caused by the Syrian crisis and the differentiated treatment granted to different populations. Even Palestinian women from Syria are not always welcomed by Palestinian families who have been living in Lebanon for a long time. However, women, because of their condition as refugees, are incited to overcome their antagonisms and to help and protect each other regardless of their origin.

The humanitarian aid provided by NGOs, both international and, above all, local^[4]Local humanitarian aid mobilises local actors who have knowledge of the context and are better able to understand and respond to the dynamics of the camp. As local organizations active in the camps … Continue reading, can therefore be a pillar of this solidarity, notably by creating spaces of trust and empathy between everyone. Within the framework of the humanitarian actions dedicated to these women, there is no judgement on women’s behavior towards each other even if they are from different backgrounds. This solidarity between refugee women also involves education and psychological support. Several refugee women work in NGOs and lead discussion and mutual support sessions^[5]Fourn Léo, « Les ambiguïtés du travail humanitaire. L’exemple des réfugiés syriens au Liban », Confluences Méditerranée, 2019/4 (N° 111), p. 61-74. … Continue reading.

According to the UNHCR, refugee women employed by NGOs in the camp are usually involved in health programmes, as traditional birth attendants, or give advice in terms of maternal and child health^[6]UNHCR. « Refworld | Lignes Directrices Pour La Protection Des Femmes Refugiées ». Refworld, https://www.refworld.org/docid/49997ada1d.html for example. It seems important for women to participate
on their own terms in programmes that concern them in order to provide an appropriate response to their needs, for the sake of their resilience and empowerment. This involvement also enables them to build this inter-women solidarity.

Mutual support at family and friendship level: inter-women solidarity or identity sorority

Mutual support among Palestinian women remains the most visible and can be seen as the sharing of a common identity. This solidarity is visible first and foremost in the family environment, such as the assistance provided to care for and raise children. Karimumuryango, an author who has written about the emergency relief camps for Rwandan refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo, states that “the family is the moral and physical driving force of the refugee: it is from it that he draws all the energy he needs to survive and it is simultaneously the root and the ending point of all his actions and survival strategies”^[7]Roxane Caron, « Les stratégies de survie des Palestiniennes du camp de Bourj el Barajneh au Liban », Graduation thesis in social work under the supervision of Dominique Damant and … Continue reading ^[8]Karimumuryango used the concept of “survival strategies” and defined it as “the set of material and immaterial means and actions, continuously combined according to the environment … Continue reading. But this strength is also drawn from outside this sphere, through the support of friends, which is crucial. Women become interdependent because they use their networks as a survival tool.

All this solidarity is part of women’s own survival strategies, especially as refugees, but above all as Palestinian women in exile, who are left out of aid and support programmes. By supporting each other, Palestinian unity grows, becomes stronger and, above all, lasts. Building up on what was raised by Roxane Caron^[9]Roxane Caron, Ibid, we can say that it is indeed the family and the community that enables women to face adversity in the camps.

The celebrations that take place there are opportunities for women to prepare food, share memories, photos, sing, dance, wear the traditional Palestinian dress (thobe or abaya) or display their hand-made embroidery.

The Palestinian identity is therefore a pledge of solidarity, but more generally what motivates survival in the camp. Indeed, the transmission of Palestinian identity, i.e. more globally its culture, from generation to generation, is one of the roles that falls to women, and which allows them to be proud to be Palestinian. Refugee women therefore take on this responsibility of transmission.

Solidarity through economic development

There is also a sorority when it comes to economic activities. Rima Hassan, founder of the Refugee Camp Observatory told us more about it: “I think that in any structure in which a social group can be identified as being in a vulnerable situation, there are bound to be ecosystems of solidarity being created. […] Yes, women organize themselves for a lot of activities, for both problem-solving in the camps, which can be specific to women’s issues, and camp life. There is the implementation of informal markets, sales of products, women will mobilize, they will grow fruit and vegetables together to sell them. They are united above all around economic activities, they will mobilize to create small informal shops where they will work”^[10]Interview with Rima Hassan, lawyer and founder of the Observatory of Refugee Camps (O-RC). August 2020.

Various forms of emancipation through the creation of small activities have emerged thanks to associations and NGOs, such as the creation of a food truck selling Palestinian food inside the Bourj-el-Barajneh camp, employing 20 women from the camp (the Soufra company) or a women’s embroidery workshop initiated by Basmeh & Zeitooneh (the Shatila Studio).

As paradoxical as it may seem, empowerment is also born out of tradition, of the art of memory and transmission, notably through the weaving of palestinity^[11]Palestinity is considered to be the Palestinian identity, as Palestinian women do not have a nationality.

Empowerment through women’s intangible and cultural heritage

The Hiyake, in the light of life stories

The Hiyake is a kind of fictional narrative which is considered as part of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity. This Palestinian tradition practiced by women transmits stories of daily life in Middle Eastern societies. Although these narratives are fictional, they draw as much as possible from reality in order to depict the existing social structures within Palestinian society and the identities that are torn apart as a result. Women are torn between tradition, duty and emancipation, desire. These stories are told among refugee women and allow them to share a personal, intimate, sincere and feminine vision of life^[12]Female craftsmanship: a performing identity, episode n° 3. Women and Heritage in Palestine – Observatory of Oriental Heritage. … Continue reading.

Embroidery as a performative identity

In Palestine, there are twelve regions, each with its own patterns, colors and different embroidery stitches. 

Embroidery is part of the intense and intimate bond between Palestinian women. They get together, embroider together, advise each other, chat and pass the time in this way. From these moments spent together, the women create a sense of community based on traditional elements^[13]Carol Mansour, Stitching Palestine, Forward Productions, Liban, 2017, Documentary, 78 min. Paradoxically, it is also thanks to this tradition that they find a way to emancipate themselves from a reducing and enclosing space. “This diffuse feeling of belonging and proximity seems to bind them immediately, as if the simple experience of femininity founded in them a form of echo, of mutual resonance which would justify a form of complicity or benevolence”^[14]Female craftsmanship: a performing identity, episode n° 3. Women and Heritage in Palestine – Observatory of Oriental Heritage. … Continue reading

Embroidery is seen as a resilience tool for Palestinian refugee women, who have become emancipated through the development of small economic activities around this practice. For example, Inaash is an organization that enables women to generate income through traditional embroidery thanks to the creation and sale of these products. Nearly 2000 women have participated in this project. As of today, the NGO works in 5 camps and partners with 400 women.

Women are the guardians of this heritage. But it is constantly jeopardized by changes within the camps, mobility, conflicts, shifts in gender responsibilities, etc. Women, for their part, are dedicated to keeping and transmitting the image of the authentic and dreamed of Palestine.

This idea of performative identity is therefore united around culture and tradition. As Palestinian women, they become empowered and gain confidence, but also economically to provide for their families. Cultural heritage is therefore a primary source in the desire for empow
erment. Palestinian women wish to remain who they are, they know where they come from, and use this identity in order to gain some power over their society and their lives.

Conclusion

Nevertheless, more than a sorority at the community level, it is solidarity from the entire international community and a questioning of the allocation of funds for humanitarian action, so as not to sideline Palestinian women who, although they have been present for a very long time on Lebanese territory, have specific needs.  Some humanitarian bodies such as UNRWA would also benefit from a thorough review of their aid policies, since providing services limited to the camp (assistance, education, employment, etc.) maintains the notion of encampment. Moreover, the numerous UNRWA corruption scandals, the general indifference to the very structure and function of the camp, which are perpetuated, and the lack of long-term solutions for the improvement of living conditions in this space, are detrimental to the refugees. A more specific vision of Palestinian identity in humanitarian action would benefit the refugees. The situation of Palestinian refugee women in Lebanon should be further questioned in order not to allow the vicious circle of the camp, dangerous and imprisoning, to take hold and to see the future prospects of women diminish again and again.

To quote this article : Natacha BERNERD, “Solidarity among women in refugee camps in Lebanon as a form of empowerment”, 24.10.2020, Gender in Geopolitics Institute.