The Shatila refugee camp (ar|مخيم شاتيلا), also known as the Chatila refugee camp, is a settlement originally set up for Palestinian refugees in 1949. It is located in southern Beirut, Lebanon and houses more than 9,842 registered Palestine refugees.[1] Since the eruption of the Syrian Civil War, the refugee camp has received a large number of Syrian refugees. In 2014, the camp's population was estimated to be between 10,000 and 22,000.[2]
Shatila was set up by the International Committee of the Red Cross to accommodate hundreds of refugees who came there after 1948.[1] They were from villages around the area of Amka, Majd al-Krum and Yajur in northern Palestine.[1]
Since the eruption of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, Lebanon's population has swelled by more than 1 million Syrian refugees. The camp has also swollen with Syrian refugees, receiving mostly the poor Syrians. As of 2014, the camp's population is estimated to be from 10,000 to 22,000.[2]
The camp comprises approximately one square kilometer and thus has an exceptionally high population density.[3]
UNRWA operates one health center and two primary schools within the camp. Non-governmental organizations active in the camp include Al-Najda, Beit Atfal Al-Soumoud, Norwegian Peoples' Aid, Doctors Without Borders, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society and the Association Najdeh.[4]