WUNRN
UNWRA – United Nations Relief
& Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
http://www.unrwa.org/crisis-in-yarmouk;
UNRWA Urgently Calls for Safety & Protection of Palestinian Civilians in Yarmouk Refugee Camp in Syria
April 5, 2015 - Never has the hour been more desperate in the Palestine refugee camp of Yarmouk, in Damascus. As the fighting intensifies, UNRWA strongly appeals to all armed actors to cease hostilities that place civilians in acute danger and to withdraw immediately from civilian populated areas. We demand that all parties exercise maximum restraint and abide by their obligations under international law to protect civilians. In addition, we demand humanitarian access and the establishment of secure conditions under which we can deliver life-saving humanitarian assistance and that enable civilians to be evacuated….UNRWA calls on concerned states to urgently exercise their authority and influence in order to end the fighting in Yarmouk for the sake of saving civilian lives and alleviating human suffering.
”To
know what it is like in Yarmouk, turn off your electricity, water, heating, eat
once a day, live in the dark, live by burning wood” – Anas, Yarmouk resident.
IN 2014, UNRWA WAS ABLE TO
DISTRIBUTE FOOD IN YARMOUK ON ONLY 131 DAYS, AVERAGING 89 BOXES PER DAY OVER
THE YEAR. TO MEET THE MINIMUM NEEDS OF THE PEOPLE, UNRWA MUST DISTRIBUTE AT
LEAST 400 FOOD BOXES EACH DAY. #SAVEYARMOUK
VOICES FROM
YARMOUK
|
"Most houses have
no doors or windows, and in the snow storm life became harder. We depend on
radishes and lettuce and green things grown in the camp, but those food items
had frozen. The water pipe exploded because of the snow." – Raed'a. |
"The most
difficult thing is when my kids get up in the morning and ask for milk and
bread and it is not available and I have to give them a radish or some
vegetable, and sometimes that is not available." – Mahd. |
"At 7am I walk
one kilometer to get water for my home. I usually spend five hours a day
collecting water, but I only collect water every five days because it is only
available every five days." – Aziz, aged 10. |
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/04/isil-seizes-syria-yarmouk-refugee-camp-150404135525226.html
Palestinian Civilians in Syria Yarmouk Refugee Camp – Trapped –
Humanitarian Disaster – Women & Children
Al Jazeera reporting from Beirut, the capital of neighbouring
Lebanon, said on Saturday that despite calls from the United Nations and
activists, the Syrian government was unlikely to open a humanitarian corridor
for the 18,000 civilians who are still in the camp.
"It is a complex situation. The government forces control
the northern part [of the camp] towards Damascus. It is their priority to keep
the capital safe," said Dekker. "The fact that ISIL fighters are less
than 10km away is of a huge concern. If they allow a humanitarian corridor, who
will be coming out?"
A Syrian opposition bloc, the Syrian National Coalition, called
the development "extremely alarming" and called on the international
community "to take concrete immediate steps" to protect the civilians
of Yarmouk……
From: WUNRN LISTSERVE [mailto:wunrn1@gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, March 04, 2015 9:25 AM
To: WUNRN ListServe (wunrn_listserve@lists.wunrn.com)
Subject: Palestinian Yarmouk Refugee Camp in Syria - Blockade &
Desperate Needs - Food, Water, Healthcare - Women & Children
WUNRN
http://www.irinnews.org/printreport.aspx?reportid=101080
PALESTINIAN YARMOUK REFUGEE CAMP IN SYRIA – BLOCKADE & DESPERATE NEEDS – FOOD, WATER, HEALTHCARE – WOMEN & CHILDREN
LONDON, 2 February 2015 (IRIN) - Conditions for Palestinian
refugees in a camp near Damascus have worsened significantly in recent weeks,
with fresh restrictions on relief supplies compounding shortages of food, clean
water and decent healthcare, according to residents.
“Two months ago, UNRWA used to send food boxes to Yarmouk,” said Abdullah, one
of 18,000 people living in the Yarmouk camp, referring to the United Nations
Relief and Works Agency. “Now there is nothing, we have no food… and it is
forbidden for nurses or doctors to enter.”
A year ago this weekend, a haunting photo of
thousands of gaunt-looking Palestinians waiting for UN food distributions in
Yarmouk’s ruins brought the crisis into the world’s attention – with a global
campaign leading the Syrian government to ease their siege and allow some aid
distributions for large parts of last year. Yet 12 months on, the camp has
disappeared from the headlines and it appears that another blockade has set in.
Chris Gunness, spokesman at UNWRA, said no aid had been delivered since 6
December but the organisation was asking the Syrian government “every day” to
allow access. To meet only basic needs, Gunness said, around 400 food parcels a
day are needed – with the organization prepared to deliver up to 1,000 if
necessary. “We have had no access whatsoever,” he said. “The situation has gradually
got worse – [it] was dire and it has got even more disastrous.”
The Syrian government is now not the only obstacle. The area has seen a serious
escalation in conflict, with rebel groups clashing and making deliveries
difficult even if the Syrian government were to issue permits.
Twice in
December UNWRA staff not delivering aid were forced to evacuate after mortar
fire landed near them. Gunness said they were calling on all armed groups to
agree to a truce to allow humanitarian aid in.
‘A desperate situation’
Inside the camp, residents tell of critical situations. Electricity is
intermittent, disease is common and prices of fuel have risen so high that many
people cannot afford to heat their homes despite some of the worst storms in
recent Middle Eastern history.
“We can say we have three big problems, the first is food, the
second problem is health, the third is water,” Abdullah said. He added that the
water to the camp stopped last month, accusing the Syrian government of cutting
it off deliberately. Residents have taken to digging holes in roads to access
water.
Amina,
another resident of the camp, told UNWRA that water prices are now so high that
the family are no longer washing. “It is not only about being able to take a
shower, but it is also clearing the toilets, or transporting water up four
floors of a building.”
The Syrian government has employed sieges across the country to force
rebel-held areas. Amnesty International has accused them of
deliberately breaching humanitarian law.
Abdullah also said that even if the government were to allow food in again,
many residents were scared that they would be detained on the way.
“All the young men who used to go out to receive humanitarian aid were arrested
by the regime. More than 150 arrests took place on the checkpoints while people
were receiving humanitarian aid.”
Yarmouk was home to around half a million Palestinian refugees before the
Syrian civil war began in 2011, but the vast majority have fled to neighbouring
countries or elsewhere inside Syria.
In recent months Palestinian refugees living in Syria have been prevented from
accessing both Lebanon and Jordan, as part of an increasingly
restrictive border policies. Abdullah said that if he were able to
escape the war he would rather flee to another part of the war-torn country
than go to Lebanon.