A place for living where the departed rest

BEIRUT, Lebanon－About 40 years ago, Lebanese Khadija Talib moved with her husband and three children from their remote village to Tripoli, the largest city in northern Lebanon, in search of job opportunities and a better life.

Their inability to afford the rent for a house in Tripoli soon drove the family to a tiny plot of land near the Cemetery of Strangers in the city, where they put up a tin roof as a makeshift shelter.

The Talib family was not alone in living near the cemetery after moving to Tripoli from their village. Over time, the area has turned into a neighborhood of rundown houses occupied by low-income migrants.

"Some people here even have graves on their balconies," Talib said.

The Cemetery of Strangers was established about 150 years ago on land belonging to the Islamic endowment in Tripoli. It is supervised by the body and was designated a site for strangers whose families cannot afford their burials, a source from the Islamic endowment said.

"We are trying by all legal means to remove the 500 families living in the cemetery today in order to preserve its sanctity," the source said on condition of anonymity.

The first thing seen when getting close to the cemetery was livestock and poultry raised by residents to generate income.

Dozens of children play between the graves, with pungent odors wafting from pools of stagnant water.

The neighborhoods are not equipped with electricity, and residents use private generators.

Riad Yamak, mayor of Tripoli, said they do not have solutions as "this problem needs a decision and budget from the government".

Xinhua