SIDON, Lebanon: Palestinian refugees in south Lebanon staged a sit-in at which they set the U.N. flag alight Wednesday in protest at what they say are corrupt practices at UNRWA. 

Hundreds of protesters staged a sit-in at the entrance to the notorious Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp near Sidon, accusing the U.N. Relief and Works Agency of “involvement in projects targeting refugees in Lebanon.”

The demonstrators blocked Ain al-Hilweh’s main road with burning tires and dumpsters and waved banners reading: “No to UNRWA’s corrupt policy.” Another placard said: “People want medical care and medication.”

A statement issued by the protesters accused UNRWA and the U.N. head in Lebanon of “being transformed into a ‘black operations room’ to run a suspicious project and to implement international schemes targeting refugees.”

Fatah military commander in Ain al-Hilweh, Munir Maqdah, who was monitoring the sit-in from his base, also accused UNRWA of bringing 43 “foreign” staff to Lebanon “with a mission that does not serve the Palestinian people.”