By Sarah Abu Said

Wednesday, 21 October 2026

When you ask a young Palestinian in Lebanon’s refugee camps, “What is your dream?” the answer is: “To travel and emigrate anywhere, except Lebanon.”

A brief but painful answer that reveals the extent of the suffering and frustration experienced by Palestinian youth in Lebanon as a result of the ongoing policies of forced displacement through hardship and restrictions imposed by the Lebanese authorities, in addition to the inability of Palestinian factions to build a secure economic environment and establish an institutional framework capable of supporting young people inside the camps.

The sinking of the boat and the deaths of several young people from the Nahr al-Bared and al-Bass refugee camps are not the first such tragedy, and certainly will not be the last as long as policies of deprivation and restrictions against Palestinians continue. Statements of condemnation and denunciation will also be repeated, but with different dates, while the tragedy remains the same.

So what is the solution?

The solution begins with determining what we, as Palestinian youth born in Lebanon, want. If we want to live with dignity and freedom, this requires certain foundations, beginning with rejecting injustice rather than adapting to it, and working to change it. In our camps, the remedy begins with leaving our homes, going beyond simply using social media, and raising our voices to declare: “Enough is enough! We want to work!”

This scene, and this youth uprising bringing together the various components of our communities in the camps, are capable of banging on the walls of the tank, shaking the dust off our causes, and winning our demands. Throughout history and across different countries, no people have obtained their rights through silence. Rights must be wrested through struggle, and dignity is defended by the voices of young women and men and their cries in the face of injustice and marginalization.

As for silence and lamenting what has been lost, these will only add further helplessness to our existing helplessness, leaving us as we are: disconnected from our rights, fearful of the illusion of despair, as though change were impossible.

Between UNRWA’s ongoing cuts and the absence of practical plans to improve living conditions in the camps and strengthen the resilience of their residents, the dreams of graduates are lost and the aspirations of female university students are scattered. Will we remain in this situation? And for how long?

Anyone who examines the unemployment figures, which have exceeded 85% inside the camps, and poverty rates approaching 90%, understands that the time has come to take the initiative, mobilize, and persevere in defense of the rights of today’s generations and to secure the future of generations to come.

Enough is enough. It is no longer acceptable for emigration to remain the only dream of young people, or for death at sea to remain the price of seeking a dignified life. The time has come to act, demand our rights, and open up real opportunities for the youth of the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.

Originally published at the Palestinian Information Center.