Bureij

This article is about the Palestinian refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. For other places with the same name, see Bureij (disambiguation).

Bureij Camp
Refugee Camp
Arabic transcription(s)
 • Arabicمخيّم البريج
 • LatinBreij (official)
al-Burayj (unofficial)
2018 Gaza border protests, Bureij
2018 Gaza border protests, Bureij
Map of the camp, as well as the two other adjacent camps of Nuseirat and Maghazi
Map of the camp, as well as the two other adjacent camps of Nuseirat and Maghazi
Bureij Camp is located in State of Palestine
Bureij Camp
Bureij Camp
Location of Bureij Camp within Palestine
Coordinates: 31°26′22.31″N 34°24′10.58″E / 31.4395306°N 34.4029389°E / 31.4395306; 34.4029389
StateState of Palestine
GovernorateDeir al-Balah
Government
 • TypeRefugee Camp (from 1949)
Area
 • Total529 dunams (0.5 km2 or 0.2 sq mi)
Population
 (2017)[1]
 • Total43,515
 • Density87,000/km2 (230,000/sq mi)
 Population total includes both the population of the camp and the Bureij municipality

Bureij (Arabic: البريج) is a Palestinian refugee camp located in the central Gaza Strip east of the Salah al-Din Road in the Deir al-Balah Governorate. The camp's total land area is 529 dunums and in 2017, it had a population of 28,024 with 28,770 registered refugees. The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) 2017 census listed a population of 15,491 in the surrounding Bureij municipality apart from the camp population.[1][2]

The camp was established in 1949 with a population of 13,000 Palestinians from the broader Gaza area. A small percentage of the refugees were housed in the British army barracks but the bulk of them were housed in tents.[3] The UNRWA built concrete homes in 1950 to replace the tents.

Most of the refugees today, like those in most camps in the Gaza Strip today, live in densely populated buildings. The camp does not have a sewage system and most waste accumulates in the Wadi Gaza, a stream north of the camp, and as a result poses a health hazard. Most of the camp's water comes from an Israeli water company.[4]

Bureij has six primary and two secondary schools with a population of 9,306 pupils at the end of 2004. All schools are operated by the UNRWA.

  1. ^ a b Preliminary Results of the Population, Housing and Establishments Census, 2017 (PDF). Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) (Report). State of Palestine. February 2018. pp. 64–82. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
  2. ^ Camp Profiles: Bureij Archived June 24, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, UNWRA.
  3. ^ Morris, Benny, (second edition 2004 third printing 2006) The Birth Of The Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-00967-7 p 467
  4. ^ Dawn Chatty and Gillian Lewando Hundt (2005) Children of Palestine: Experiencing Forced Migration in the Middle East Berghahn Books, ISBN 1-84545-120-1 p 257