Refugees in the West Bank city of Jenin are experiencing the same tragic humanitarian crisis as in the Gaza Strip, with no water, electricity, or shelter, and are even facing life-threatening situations after the Israeli army launched targeted attacks against the region.
In 1953, in order to accommodate Palestinians displaced by the first Middle East war, a refugee camp covering an area of less than 0.5 square kilometers was established in the western suburbs of Jenin, where a large number of refugees from all over the occupied territories have since lived.
After decades of development, the camp's tents have turned into buildings that can accommodate nearly 20,000 people. However, the destruction and trauma have never stopped.
During the Israeli military operation in the Jenin refugee camp from Aug. 28 to Sept. 6 this year, 14 local people were killed by the Israeli army, with most of the streets, buildings, and power and water supply networks damaged or destroyed.
In a dire reflection of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, thousands of people were forced to evacuate the camp.
According to refugee Khalid, both the infrastructure and property have been seriously destroyed in Jenin, including his house, which was blown up simply because it was suspected of concealing a tunnel used by hostile forces.
"On the ninth day of the Israeli attack here, an Israeli policeman found us and took us outside. He asked me whether this was my house, I told him yes, and he told me to take my belongings and cell phones and evacuate 50 meters away immediately. My wife and I ran out as fast as we could to my brother's house nearby. This was at 13:00. At 17:00 that day, the Israeli army blew up the house, and that's it. When the situation calmed down, we returned to the house and found it completely destroyed. As you can see, the Israeli army only claimed that they suspected there was a tunnel here, but there was no tunnel in my house," said Khalid.
According to the locals, the Israeli army conducted an investigation after Khalid's home was bombed, but apart from a tunnel previously discovered in the nearby area, the forces did not find the suspected tunnel under Khalid's home.
While trying to map the nearby tunnel, the Israeli troops also forced civilians to help them complete dangerous military tasks, according to locals.
"They brought me here and told me to go into this tunnel. The Israeli officer's name was Captain Musa Abu. When I went into the tunnel, he gave me a drone and told me to take it into the tunnel and show them what was inside. They told me to tell them what the camera was capturing and they were looking at the images on a computer. I told him there were rocks and stones but they were afraid there might be armed men hiding down there," said refugee Muhammad.
"I wasn't too scared, but I was very worried that they would keep me in the tunnel and not let me out. They gave me a drone and I described it to them like this, but I saw nothing. He asked what it was and I told him these were rocks and this was a rock. He saw a big hole here and asked me to point to it and lift the drone to see what was there, but it was just a hole, that's all. Because they were afraid of danger, they brought me here to protect themselves," he said.
Refugees in West Bank suffer tragic humanitarian crisis amid Israeli attacks
Refugees in West Bank suffer tragic humanitarian crisis amid Israeli attacks
A group of Lebanese activists have taken the initiative to assist African migrants affected by the ongoing conflict in the country, while leading advocacy efforts to release the workers from a Kafala labor system that allows their employers and agents to withhold their passports, making it impossible for them to leave.
As the conflict in Lebanon rages on, many countries have started airlifting their citizens out of the country, while people from some African countries have been left on the streets of different cities and towns after fleeing their homes. They are desperate for food, shelter and safety.
The Lebanese government said that more than 1.2 million people have been displaced because of the Israeli bombardment of the country.
With minimal resources, the government has prioritized the space it has to shelter its own citizens, leaving tens of thousands of migrants on the streets.
After a journey that saw them scattered on the streets, moving from one city to the other, a group of 80 women from Sierra Leone finally found a roof over their heads.
"I came here to work to take care of my family, my kids, but since this war, I don't have a job. Because of the war, there are no jobs everywhere. I was working in Kounine village. Because of too many bombs, I was too afraid. I came to Beirut to Sabra one month, within two months, they also strike in Sabra," said Mary Koroma, a Sierra Leonean migrant in Lebanon.
Leaving her two children and husband, 28-year-old Koroma came to Lebanon to work and support her family back home. When she had a job, she used to send all the 200 dollars she earned as her monthly salary back to her family in Sierra Leone.
Koroma's colleague in this shelter, Hassanatu Conteh is in a much worse condition. She had a car accident right before the war in Lebanon intensified, limiting her ability to move.
"I don't know yet what will happen in the future. Yes, I feel scared because of the war and my condition, because I cannot work for myself. They are helping me, if I need help, like if I want to go to the toilet, if I want to stand up, they help me. I don't plan to stay, because now I am scared of Lebanon. One, I had an accident, then two, the war," said Conteh.
Unfortunately, most of the African migrants at the shelter have not found anyone to pay for their evacuation. And to make matters worse, none of these women even have their passports.
Under the country's labor system called "Kafala," which is an Arabic word meaning sponsorship, most migrant workers are tied up to their employer and cannot work elsewhere or use their passports to leave Lebanon as the travel documents are held by their bosses.
If they complain about the often deplorable working conditions, they are kicked out and left on the streets without any rights.
"It is called modern day slavery, because, first of all, it gives no rights to migrants. They are treated as second class humans. Often, they are abused at homes, not even paid for the hard work they do, and evidently not provided any basic rights. So, most of them don't get days off, and all of that is acceptable under the Kafala system. Some women tell me the house got bombed. Probably even their employers don't even have their own passports. This crisis is the biggest the country has seen," said Dia Haj Shahin, a Lebanese activist.
Luckily for these women, Shahin and her team are advocating for these women. With the help of the authorities, they are chasing sponsors to retrieve the forcefully confiscated passports.
"We also collected all the information from everyone under our care, to start the repatriation process with immigration and general security. The issue is that none of them hold their passports, and some of them don't even have pictures and have no contact with their employers," said Shahin.
All these women are luckier than many others. The United Nations said on Friday that many Lebanese families who evacuated the country have left their house workers locked inside their residences.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that the number of cases where house workers have been abandoned is spiking, estimating that there are nearly 170,000 migrant workers in Lebanon.
Lebanese activists assist African migrants in escaping "modern day slavery" as conflict intensifies
