September 18, 2008
Laure Chedrawi, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
OneWorld.net note: A group of Lebanese and international deminers will receive a prestigious human rights award for their work, which has cleared the way for nearly 1 million displaced people to safely return home.
Marwa, an 11-year-old from Aita Shaab in southern Lebanon, receiving treatment last year for injuries stemming from a cluster bomblet that exploded while she was playing with it. © Dina Debbas / IRIN
Earlier this year, an Israeli investigative committee ruled Israel’s use of cluster bombs during the July 2006 war in Lebanon — fought against the armed wing of the Lebanese political party Hezbollah — to be a violation of international law with regards to protecting civilians.
In 2006, tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, a powerful Shia militia active in southern Lebanon, erupted into a month-long conflict. “In the final 3 days of the conflict with the ceasefire looming, [Israeli] aircraft sprayed up to 4 million cluster bomblets over southern Lebanon. Over 1200 Lebanese were killed, most of them civilians, and a quarter of the population was displaced,” explains OneWorld.net in its Lebanon country guide.
Nansen Award: Mine clearers in Lebanon win Nansen Refugee Award
From: UNHCR
By Laure Chedrawi
BEIRUT, Lebanon, September 15 (UNHCR) – The 2008 Nansen Refugee Award will go to a group of international and Lebanese deminers who have cleared tens of thousands of mines and cluster munitions in southern Lebanon, allowing hundreds of thousands of displaced people to return home.
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