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Report: 7,500 Palestine refugees living in open air in North Syria

February 15, 2020 at 1:02 pm

Syrian civilians seen fleeing towards the Turkish border, escaping airstrikes of Assad regime forces and Russia, in northwestern Syria’s Idlib de-escalation zone, on February 13, 2020 [Muhammed Said / Anadolu Agency]

At least 7,500 Palestinian refugees displaced from the refugee camps of Daraa, Homs, Aleppo and Al Yarmouk, are currently living in North Syria, the Documentation Civil Centre for Palestinian Refugees in North Syria confirmed on Friday.

Speaking to Quds Press, director of the centre, Abu Mohannad, stated: “The Palestinian refugee families are distributed among several cities in North Syria.”

He noted that several Turkish charities and NGOs, which enter through Turkey, are supervising a number of the camps providing them with water tanks, food parcels, kitchen appliances, clothes and heating.

Meanwhile, the centre offers identification documents, including IDs and marriage deeds among other documents.

Palestinians of Syria: The Story of Unending Suffering - Buy the report

Palestinians of Syria: The Story of Unending Suffering

Abu Mohannad informed Quds Press that the situation in the east of Idlib is very difficult, due to the ongoing battles between the opposition forces and the Syrian regime, pushing the Palestinian refugees to move towards Afrin.

He pointed out that these are rural areas, so there are not enough homes to host the refugees. Therefore, most of the refugees live in primitive arbitrary camps without electricity and work.

Palestinian refugee, Fares Ahmed, told Quds Press that he did not witness the 1948 Nakba, but he experienced it when he was displaced from Al Yarmouk in 2018, where he has been unsafe and lacking in stability until today.

According to Abu Mohannad, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is completely absent in North Syria. However, he disclosed that there are many other United Nations groups entering through Turkey.

Several appeals for help were initiated, but UNRWA did not respond.

Meanwhile, he accused the Palestine Liberation Organisation of “completely” neglecting the refugees, despite reporting the situation to the senior Palestinian officials.

Palestinians of Syria: The Story of Unending Suffering