Published : 10-05-2020
The lockdown measures imposed as part of the anti-coronavirus battle has made the situation in AlSayeda Zeinab camp for Palestinian refugees far worse.
The residents said trucks bringing vegetables and food items from Damascus have been denied entry into the camp. At the same time, the main entrance to the area has been blocked.
Food items exclusively sold in the area by the Syrian Commerce Company do not meet the needs of some 400,000 civilians taking refuge in the area.
All the way through Syria’s nine-year war, AlSayeda Zeinab Camp, held by the Syrian government forces and their affiliated popular committees, has been gripped with dire socio-economic conditions as a result of the high rates of unemployment. Scores of civilians have fled the camp while others have been forced to join pro-government battalions.
UN data indicates that the camp was established on an area of 0.02 square kilometers in 1948, but the majority of the residents came in 1967. The inhabitants, who were displaced from the Quneitra Governorate in the Golan Heights during the 1967 Arab-Israeli conflict, sought refuge for the second time in their lives in the area. Most had originally fled to the Golan Heights in 1948 from nearby villages in northern Palestine.
Before the conflict in Syria, the camp was home to 23,700 Palestine refugees. The camp was affected by violent clashes that forced 40 per cent of the people to leave in late 2012.
Like other areas in Syria, displacement, unemployment, inflation, protection and security risks are among the major concerns shared not only by Palestine refugees but also Syrians alike during the ongoing conflict in Syria. The majority of Palestine refugees in AlSayeda Zeinab work as day laborers, government employees or vendors.
The lockdown measures imposed as part of the anti-coronavirus battle has made the situation in AlSayeda Zeinab camp for Palestinian refugees far worse.
The residents said trucks bringing vegetables and food items from Damascus have been denied entry into the camp. At the same time, the main entrance to the area has been blocked.
Food items exclusively sold in the area by the Syrian Commerce Company do not meet the needs of some 400,000 civilians taking refuge in the area.
All the way through Syria’s nine-year war, AlSayeda Zeinab Camp, held by the Syrian government forces and their affiliated popular committees, has been gripped with dire socio-economic conditions as a result of the high rates of unemployment. Scores of civilians have fled the camp while others have been forced to join pro-government battalions.
UN data indicates that the camp was established on an area of 0.02 square kilometers in 1948, but the majority of the residents came in 1967. The inhabitants, who were displaced from the Quneitra Governorate in the Golan Heights during the 1967 Arab-Israeli conflict, sought refuge for the second time in their lives in the area. Most had originally fled to the Golan Heights in 1948 from nearby villages in northern Palestine.
Before the conflict in Syria, the camp was home to 23,700 Palestine refugees. The camp was affected by violent clashes that forced 40 per cent of the people to leave in late 2012.
Like other areas in Syria, displacement, unemployment, inflation, protection and security risks are among the major concerns shared not only by Palestine refugees but also Syrians alike during the ongoing conflict in Syria. The majority of Palestine refugees in AlSayeda Zeinab work as day laborers, government employees or vendors.
