My friend Ayyash took me on a tour of Balata Camp, the refugee camp where he lives only minutes from downtown Nablus.
Here, in 2 square kilometers, live 28,000 people, said Ayyash.
He said that the unemployment rate is 70%. Â Those who are employed, often work in shops inside the camp. Â Most of the refugees are educated, finishing high school and college, but very few move out because of the cost of relocating.
Only when public officials visit to see the conditions of the camp are the streets cleaned. Â We walked through tiny alleys that left no room for people to pass eachother.
Settlements surrounding Balata Camp.
All the homes are connected and there’s no room to build out, only up.
Kids playing soccer.
More info about Balata Camp:
Behind the Walls of Balata Camp
Quite sad. The Palestinian Authority could improve these people’s conditions anytime they wanted, resettle elsewhere in the West Bank or attend local schools, but they would lose the PR value.
Peter
To start with, this issue was not started by the PA it was started by the Zionists groups which ethnically cleansed those [people from their original villages and cities in 1948 http://badil.org/en/israel-and-the-nakba and its the responsibility of the international community which witnessed all this and did nothing and still doing nothing.
UN started something called the UNRWA which is now performing on the worst level, may attempts have been made to integrate these refugee camps among the Palestinian civil cities which is refused completely because of something called, the right of return .
http://badil.org/en/historical-overview
So, its not about PA taking over their responsibility, PA is taking responsibilty as much as it can.
please check the links