Back to Contents Riad Al Khouri: The quick answer is yes. First, there are fewer of them. They used to be extremely common. Now, there are very few of them. Second, they tend to be more relaxed today, more lenient, unlike in the 1970s and ‘80s, for example. Asylos: Still concerning freedom of movement, are Palestinians free to leave Lebanon on a temporary or a permanent basis? Riad Al Khouri: I do not have detailed information on this. It is correct to say that it is almost impossible for people who do not have the proper documentation to leave and then try to come back. Beyond that, the overall situation about residence, about travel, and about travel documents is still difficult. It has always been difficult. It was difficult in 1948 when these refugees first arrived. Asylos: It is still difficult today? Riad Al Khouri: It has not really changed. Asylos: Moving on to our section on health. We have, of course, a very dense section on COVID-19 and how it affected the situation of stateless Palestinians in Lebanon. Are you aware of other communicable diseases affecting stateless Palestinians specifically? Riad Al Khouri: Yes. There is now a major problem with an outbreak of cholera in Syria. This happened over the last few weeks. The reason for this outbreak is due to polluted water. The water is not clean. This is partly because of the fighting in Syria and the situation of violence and militias and foreign armies and so forth, partly because of the gradual breakdown of public services that has been going on now for decades, even before the fighting started. It is quite likely that this is going to spread to Lebanon if it has not’ spread already. And it will be from Syrians, including Palestinian refugees coming from Syria into Lebanon. Last month, the head of one of the Lebanese churches, the main Christian sect in Lebanon, the Maronite Catholic Church, called for the Syrian refugees to leave Lebanon. And included in that would be the Palestinians, refugees who came from Syria to Lebanon over the past few years. I believe one of the reasons is now the spread of disease, including cholera. And this is a very new issue. You will have to look in new sources. There will not be any research on it. It suddenly came up over the past few weeks. Asylos: Now, moving onto the section on child protection and access to education for children, we found information relating to the obstacles to the protection of stateless Palestinian children, such as risk of child marriage, which is on the rise, children reported working to support the household, but no information on the infrastructure that might be in place to protect children from these types of harm. Do you know of any such infrastructures or protecting bodies? Riad Al Khouri: First, it is important to note that this problem cuts across the Lebanese population. It is not just Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon, it is other poor people living there, particularly Muslims. Lebanon is divided into two major groups, Christians and Muslims. The Christians tend to be better off economically. They have a higher standard of living, including higher standards of public health in their communities, and community care about issues such as child labor, child marriage, et cetera. The Muslims - and most Palestinian refugees are Muslim - tend to have lower standards, more common child marriages, more common child labor, and others. And this problem has been getting worse over the past few years for economic reasons. Child labor is an obvious example. But child marriage is also an economic issue, whereby you sometimes get rich people, particularly from the Arab Gulf, coming to Lebanon and offering families substantial amounts of money for a young bride who may be below the legal age of marriage. And this is becoming more common now. I am Jordanian, as you know, and I have noticed this problem in the Syrian refugee community in Jordan, something that is increasing and is also becoming more common now in Lebanon. There are structures, institutions, and others, for their protection. I happen to have a friend in London who is the head of an NGO dealing with child brides. You’re welcome to talk to her. I think you can find her contacts on the web. Her name is Lakshmi. She is originally from India, but she was born and bought up in Switzerland, and now she lives and works in England. Her first name is Lakshmi, L-A-K-S-H-M-I, and the last name is Sundaram, S-U-N-D-A-R-A-M. Her organization is Girls Not Brides. It is a big, well-established, well-funded NGO based in London, and they may have more information on this. But as I said, this is becoming more common among the refugees in the region, including Syrian refugees in Jordan, and Syrian refugees coming to Lebanon, Palestinian refugees from Syria in Lebanon, and Palestinian refugees who have always been in Lebanon, and the explanation is economic. When you get extreme poverty, this kind of thing increases. Asylos: Since the spread of COVID-19, NGOs based in Lebanon saw a rise in child marriage. 17. Appendices 159