Iraq/Syria: Situation for Palestinians in border camps continues to deteriorate
Briefing Notes, 26 June 2007
This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 26 June 2007, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
The situation of more than 1,400 Palestinians who have fled Baghdad and are stranded in camps on the Iraq-Syria border is deteriorating by the day. There is an urgent need for medical care as well as an immediate humanitarian solution and we urge countries in the region – and further afield – to help end their suffering.
A UNHCR team visited Al Waleed camp – home to 1,071 Palestinians – on the Iraqi side of the border last week and identified four children and one young man in urgent need of medical care. They included a youth with a hole in his heart – who needs life-saving surgery, two children with Hodgkin's disease suffering from relapses; one youth about to lose his leg because of a vascular disease; and a young man with severe diabetes losing his sight. UNHCR and ICRC [International Committee of the Red Cross] are trying everything to provide proper medical care but this is impossible in the snake- and scorpion-infested border camp without access to proper water, sanitation, care and shelter.
An added worry is that the security situation is also rapidly deteriorating in the area. Early last week the camp was visited by armed local men who threatened the refugees and demanded some of their supplies. The Iraqi interior ministry put out an arrest warrant, but the culprits are still at large. The refugees are increasingly scared and frustrated, trapped in the middle of nowhere and unable to understand why nobody or no country can help them or give them access to safety. Several refugees begged our team not to forget them and leave them in this hell. No one wants to return to Baghdad.
High temperatures and sandstorms are adding to their suffering. During the day, temperatures in the tents rise to 50ºC and there's little shade. There are regular sandstorms. Water and sanitation infrastructure remains very basic as UNHCR and ICRC have been hampered from establishing a proper site. Various agencies on the ground have been threatened by local Iraqis and at times blocked from providing assistance to the trapped Palestinians.
In Baghdad the situation remains grim. Many Palestinians are trapped, afraid to move but also afraid to stay. There are still an estimated 15,000 Palestinians remaining in Iraq – less than half of the estimated figure in 2003. UNHCR has repeatedly called for international support for the Palestinians but with few results. We continue to strongly urge the Iraqi authorities and multinational forces to provide protection to the extent possible to the Palestinian community in Baghdad and at the Iraq-Syria border.
The internally displaced of Iraq
Eight years after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, over 1.5 million people remain displaced throughout Iraq, including 500,000 who live in dire conditions in settlements or public buildings. For these very vulnerable people, daily life is a struggle with limited access to clean water, electricity, heath services or schools for their children. Many families who live illegally in informal settlements are at risk of eviction. Most of the internally displaced fled their homes because of sectarian violence which erupted in 2006 following the bombing of the Al-Askari shrine in Samarra. UNHCR works with the Government of Iraq on projects such as land allocation; shelter assistance and house reconstruction to try to find long term solutions for the displaced.
The internally displaced of Iraq
Al Tanf: Leaving No Man's Land
In February 2010, the last 60 Palestinian inhabitants of the squalid camp of Al Tanf on the Syria-Iraq border were ushered onto buses and taken to another camp in Syria.
Al Tanf camp was established in May 2006, when hundreds of Palestinians fleeing persecution in Iraq tried in vain to cross into Syria. With no country willing to accept them, they remained on a strip of desert sandwiched between a busy highway and a wall in the no-man's-land between Iraq and Syria.
Along with daily worries about their security, the residents of Al Tanf suffered from heat, dust, sandstorms, fire, flooding and even snow. The passing vehicles posed another danger. At its peak, Al Tanf hosted some 1,300 people.
UNHCR encouraged resettlement countries to open their doors to the Palestinians. Since 2008, more than 900 of them have been accepted by countries such as Belgium, Chile, Finland, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The last group of Palestinians were transferred to Al Hol camp in Syria, where they face continuing restrictions and uncertainty.
Al Tanf: Leaving No Man's Land
UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie meets Iraqi refugees in Syria
UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie returned to the Syrian capital Damascus on 2 October, 2009 to meet Iraqi refugees two years after her last visit. The award-winning American actress, accompanied by her partner Brad Pitt, took the opportunity to urge the international community not to forget the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees who remain in exile despite a relative improvement in the security situation in their homeland. Jolie said most Iraqi refugees cannot return to Iraq in view of the severe trauma they experienced there, the uncertainty linked to the coming Iraqi elections, the security issues and the lack of basic services. They will need continued support from the international community, she said. The Goodwill Ambassador visited the homes of two vulnerable Iraqi families in the Jaramana district of southern Damascus. She was particularly moved during a meeting with a woman from a religious minority who told Jolie how she was physically abused and her son tortured after being abducted earlier this year in Iraq and held for days. They decided to flee to Syria, which has been a generous host to refugees.
UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie meets Iraqi refugees in Syria
Iraq: Harsh Living
There are more than 350 settlements for internally displaced people in Iraq.The living conditions in most of them are dire.
Iraq: Brick by Brick
In Iraq, where more than 2 million people remain displaced, UNHCR has launched a home renovation project to assist returns.
Angelina Jolie in Iraq
During a day-long visit to Baghdad, UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie visited a makeshift settlement for internally displaced people in the Chikook suburb of north-west Baghdad where she met with four families displaced from the district of Abu Ghraib and from the western suburbs of the Iraqi capital.
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