most of sha'ab's original residents became internally displaced refugees, settling in nearby arab villages, predominantly in majd al-krum and sakhnin. meanwhile, many refugees from the depopulated villages of al-birwa, al-damun and mi'ar were settled in sha'ab in 1948 and were joined by refugees from kirad al-ghannam and kirad al-baqqara in the hula valley in 1953. the original residents of sha'ab protested their circumstances and launched a campaign soon after the end of the war to return to their homes. they gained the sympathy of most of the refugees from the hula valley and al-birwa, but faced resistance from the former residents of al-damun and mi'ar. by 1950, roughly 10% of sha'ab's original inhabitants returned to the village and eventually many more were given permission to resettle.