Published : 08-06-2020
Young man Osama Ahmad and volunteers from Khan Eshieh camp for Palestinian refugees, has embarked on an initiative to collect medicines for vulnerable and poor families in the camp.
Over recent months, residents of Khan Eshieh camp said they have run out of life-saving medicines and urgently-needed medical kit.
A resident told AGPS that sick Palestinians with hypertension and diabetes have to line up in long queues to receive prescribed medicines. Elderly people with chronic diseases have also failed to secure much-needed drugs due to high poverty.
Recently, AGPS has urged UNRWA along with the Syrian Health Ministry to provide the Palestinian refugee community in the war-torn country with hygiene kit and relief items in light of the coronavirus outbreak.
AGPS also stressed the need to supply Palestinian refugee camps with medicines, detergents, and disinfectants in order to help the displaced communities defend themselves against the deadly COVID-19 virus.
Palestinian families taking refuge in Khan Eshieh camp have been struggling with squalid humanitarian conditions inflicted by the nine-year long warfare.
According to UN data, Khan Eshieh camp lies beside the ancient ruins of Khan Eshieh, 27km south-west of Damascus. The Khan historically served as an overnight shelter for trade caravans on the road between Damascus and the southwest, and in 1948, it provided shelter for the first refugees from Palestine. The camp was established in 1949 on an area of 0.69 square kilometers with refugees originally from the northern part of Palestine.
Before the conflict in Syria, the camp was home to more than 20,000 Palestine refugees. In 2012, the farms and fields surrounding the camp became active battlegrounds in which heavy weapons were deployed, often indiscriminately. The population more than halved to 9,000.
Some of the camp's buildings and infrastructure were severely affected including some UNRWA installations; two UNRWA schools and the community centre were almost razed to the ground. In 2016, UNRWA was able to re-access Khan Esheih and the Agency was able to rehabilitate some of its installations. Residents have also slowly started to return, with the camp now accommodating 12,000 people.
Young man Osama Ahmad and volunteers from Khan Eshieh camp for Palestinian refugees, has embarked on an initiative to collect medicines for vulnerable and poor families in the camp.
Over recent months, residents of Khan Eshieh camp said they have run out of life-saving medicines and urgently-needed medical kit.
A resident told AGPS that sick Palestinians with hypertension and diabetes have to line up in long queues to receive prescribed medicines. Elderly people with chronic diseases have also failed to secure much-needed drugs due to high poverty.
Recently, AGPS has urged UNRWA along with the Syrian Health Ministry to provide the Palestinian refugee community in the war-torn country with hygiene kit and relief items in light of the coronavirus outbreak.
AGPS also stressed the need to supply Palestinian refugee camps with medicines, detergents, and disinfectants in order to help the displaced communities defend themselves against the deadly COVID-19 virus.
Palestinian families taking refuge in Khan Eshieh camp have been struggling with squalid humanitarian conditions inflicted by the nine-year long warfare.
According to UN data, Khan Eshieh camp lies beside the ancient ruins of Khan Eshieh, 27km south-west of Damascus. The Khan historically served as an overnight shelter for trade caravans on the road between Damascus and the southwest, and in 1948, it provided shelter for the first refugees from Palestine. The camp was established in 1949 on an area of 0.69 square kilometers with refugees originally from the northern part of Palestine.
Before the conflict in Syria, the camp was home to more than 20,000 Palestine refugees. In 2012, the farms and fields surrounding the camp became active battlegrounds in which heavy weapons were deployed, often indiscriminately. The population more than halved to 9,000.
Some of the camp's buildings and infrastructure were severely affected including some UNRWA installations; two UNRWA schools and the community centre were almost razed to the ground. In 2016, UNRWA was able to re-access Khan Esheih and the Agency was able to rehabilitate some of its installations. Residents have also slowly started to return, with the camp now accommodating 12,000 people.
