More damaging, re-entry visas have to be renewed every six months, placing heavy burdens on 'Lebanese' Palestinians who work abroad. The new regulations inhibit Palestinian travel through the high cost of visas and 'extras', as well as through making other countries reluctant to allow Palestinians entry or employment. Refugees displaced by war have been evicted from illegal accommodation but no new low-cost housing has been provided. Public construction schemes threaten several camps with complete or partial demolition. All but a small minority of refugees are excluded from from professional and skilled technical employment.
Available work is mainly manual, irregular and daily- paid, or in petty commerce in camps.
Such conditions have lowered the overall income of the community and increased the incidence of 'hardship cases', with negative effects on health, educational investment, skill levels, and morale. Currently estimated the most serious problem facing the refugees in Lebanon is insufficient access to hospitalization. Health levels are also affected by war-stress, environmental deprivation, and poverty. Apart from a slightly higher number of 'hardship cases', the Agency's allocations to the Lebanon field have not yet taken account of special hardship. Recent years have seen reductions in releif and services.