The first blocks of a “security” wall were erected around the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon this week as a plan to build security cordons and watchtowers around Ein al-Hilweh came into effect.
The wall is set to be completed within the next 15 months according to a report by Lebanon-based al-Modon news site.
For thousands living in the overcrowded camp of Ein al-Hilweh located southeast of the port city of Sidon life will only get from bad to worse due to the fence.
Angry Palestinian refugees dubbed the fence “the wall of shame” and compared it to Israeli apartheid walls in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Authorities in Lebanon maintain the security watchtower will enable the army to better control the camp amid claims that militants seek refuge there.
However observers compared the wall to an open-air prison inside which Palestinian refugees will be confined.
Ein al-Hilweh camp covering an area of one square kilometer is home to over 80000 Palestinian refugees who were recently joined by thousands of displaced Palestinians fleeing warfare in beleaguered Syria.
