Published : 10-01-2021
A handful of humanitarian moves were held in favor of the Palestinian refugee community in war-torn Syria throughout 2020.
In February, a Swiss delegation and a representative of the International Red Cross Committee in Syria paid a visit to Handarat camp for Palestinian refugees, north of Syria, on February 11, in an attempt to scrutinize living conditions in the camp.
The delegation assessed the condition of vital facilities, infrastructure, and water network.
In mid-2020, Director of UNRWA operations in Syria Amanya Michael-Ebye paid visits to Khan Dannun, Yarmouk, Handarat, and AlNeirab refugee camps in order to inspect UNRWA facilities.
Amanya met with UNRWA staff and Palestinian refugees at UNRWA-run clinics, distribution centers, community development centers, and schools, along with sanitation workers and students.
In November 2020, UNRWA’s Commissioner-General, Philippe Lazzarini, visited UNRWA installations including a health centre and a school in AlSabina camp for Palestinian refugees, where he met members of the school parliament.
The refugees explained to the Commissioner-General the daily hardship of displacement and poverty, made worse by years of conflict that saw prices of basic goods soar to the point of making most of them unaffordable, as the value of the Syria pound collapsed.
The representatives of the school parliament briefed Lazzarini on the preventative measures taken in the school to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and the challenges of switching to online classes in the era of COVID-19. For most Palestine refugees in Syria, online education is a luxury that they cannot afford, with frequent power cuts, uneven internet coverage and absence of electronic devices in extremely vulnerable households.
Lazzarini made his first official visit to Syria on 26-29 October 2020. During his visit, he held meetings with a number of Syrian government officials and toured camps for Palestine refugees in Damascus to take a closer look at their situation and at the services that UNRWA provides within a context of the protracted crisis.
After ten years of war, which has caused extensive casualties, large-scale and protracted displacement and the destruction of civilian infrastructure, Syria is now facing an economic meltdown, fuelled by conflict-related hyperinflation and the plummeting of the Syrian pound. Prices of basic commodities, including bread, have skyrocketed and people are forced to queue for bread as this subsidized commodity is rationed.
Ninety per cent of Palestine refugees in Syria live in poverty and 40 per cent remain in protracted displacement. Their hardship has been exponentially exacerbated through the imposition of sanctions and the rapid spread of COVID-19 in refugee communities. Their resilience is at breaking point.
A handful of humanitarian moves were held in favor of the Palestinian refugee community in war-torn Syria throughout 2020.
In February, a Swiss delegation and a representative of the International Red Cross Committee in Syria paid a visit to Handarat camp for Palestinian refugees, north of Syria, on February 11, in an attempt to scrutinize living conditions in the camp.
The delegation assessed the condition of vital facilities, infrastructure, and water network.
In mid-2020, Director of UNRWA operations in Syria Amanya Michael-Ebye paid visits to Khan Dannun, Yarmouk, Handarat, and AlNeirab refugee camps in order to inspect UNRWA facilities.
Amanya met with UNRWA staff and Palestinian refugees at UNRWA-run clinics, distribution centers, community development centers, and schools, along with sanitation workers and students.
In November 2020, UNRWA’s Commissioner-General, Philippe Lazzarini, visited UNRWA installations including a health centre and a school in AlSabina camp for Palestinian refugees, where he met members of the school parliament.
The refugees explained to the Commissioner-General the daily hardship of displacement and poverty, made worse by years of conflict that saw prices of basic goods soar to the point of making most of them unaffordable, as the value of the Syria pound collapsed.
The representatives of the school parliament briefed Lazzarini on the preventative measures taken in the school to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and the challenges of switching to online classes in the era of COVID-19. For most Palestine refugees in Syria, online education is a luxury that they cannot afford, with frequent power cuts, uneven internet coverage and absence of electronic devices in extremely vulnerable households.
Lazzarini made his first official visit to Syria on 26-29 October 2020. During his visit, he held meetings with a number of Syrian government officials and toured camps for Palestine refugees in Damascus to take a closer look at their situation and at the services that UNRWA provides within a context of the protracted crisis.
After ten years of war, which has caused extensive casualties, large-scale and protracted displacement and the destruction of civilian infrastructure, Syria is now facing an economic meltdown, fuelled by conflict-related hyperinflation and the plummeting of the Syrian pound. Prices of basic commodities, including bread, have skyrocketed and people are forced to queue for bread as this subsidized commodity is rationed.
Ninety per cent of Palestine refugees in Syria live in poverty and 40 per cent remain in protracted displacement. Their hardship has been exponentially exacerbated through the imposition of sanctions and the rapid spread of COVID-19 in refugee communities. Their resilience is at breaking point.
