Published : 12-01-2021
In an effort to offer services to particularly vulnerable persons in Yarmouk, UNRWA has worked closely with the General Authority for Palestine Arab Refugees (GAPAR) to resume essential primary health care and disease prevention in Yarmouk.
As of 23 September, a mobile health clinic – one of the Agency’s 25 primary health-care facilities across Syria - is visiting the camp every Wednesday to provide services from the yard of one of the destroyed UNRWA schools.
UN data indicates that the camp was established in 1948. Before the conflict in Syria, the camp was home to 22,600 Palestine refugees. It was taken over by armed opposition groups in 2013. The camp remained closed to civilians for almost four years and houses and infrastructure were damaged in the fighting. In September 2017, civilians were able to return to their homes. All UNRWA installations were in need of repairs.
The whole Palestine population in AlSabina camp suffered from displacement during the crisis and many families left the country and sought refuge in neighboring countries or fled to Europe.
During the conflict, labor opportunities have dwindled and the unemployment rate is still very high with very limited financial resources to help Palestine refugees restore their livelihoods. Like other areas in Syria, displacement, inflation, protection and security risks are among the main concerns shared by Palestine refugees and Syrians alike.
The camp is situated on an area of 0.03 square kilometers. Palestine refugees who came to Syria in 1948 first settled the camp. It also accommodates Palestine refugees who were displaced as a result of the 1967 conflict.
“We were able to treat about 900 patients over the past weeks in our clinic. Every Wednesday, we can receive an average of 65 patients, many of them with chronic diseases and respiratory infections,” said Dr. Imad Hamdan, an UNRWA doctor who works in the clinic. “I think many older persons avoided seeking health care before, as it was too difficult to access.”
“It is heartbreaking to see the conditions they are living in and it makes us very happy to see their sparkling eyes when they come to us”, he added. “It means a lot to them, not only to get health care, but also just to be able to talk. We are like a family to them. It is a tiny bit of normality that came back. We also believe that sometimes symptoms they show are triggered by fear and stress, after the horrors and atrocities they went through.”
Dr. Hamdan also highlighted the important role the clinic plays in awareness-raising and explaining preventative measures to avoid the spread of COVID-19 in the camp. “It would be a catastrophe here, people in Yarmouk cannot bear any additional burden,” he said. “What they need now is hope. Life needs to return to Yarmouk camp, I feel that our clinic is a start of this.”
Before the beginning of the conflict in March 2011, Yarmouk was home to approximately 160,000 Palestine refugees, making it the largest Palestine refugee community in Syria. Located eight kilometers from Damascus, it had a symbolic value for the Palestinian diaspora.
In December 2012, fierce clashes erupted in Yarmouk, causing numerous civilian casualties, severe damage to property and the displacement of thousands of Palestine refugees and Syrians. The camp was under siege from July 2013, drastically restricting the entry of commercial and humanitarian goods.
In January 2014, UNRWA had access to Yarmouk and conducted direct distribution to besieged Palestine refugees. The Agency continued distribution until April 2015, when armed opposition groups captured over 60 per cent of the camp, containing over 90 per cent of the remaining civilian population. This not only made UNRWA unable to carry out any distributions inside Yarmouk but also displaced most of the remaining 18,000 Palestine refugees and other civilians to the neighbouring areas of Yalda, Babila and Beit Saham (YBB).
Later in 2015, UNRWA managed to access the remaining 6,000 Palestine refugees in Yarmouk and YBB through cross-border missions to Yalda and continued until May 2016 when access was blocked. Almost all the remaining Palestine refugees left during the final government offensive for Yarmouk in April-May 2018, after which the government retook control of the camp left in ruins.
Due to the Agency’s unprecedented financial crisis, critical health-care services like those extended to the returned Palestine refugees in Yarmouk are now in jeopardy, putting #PalestineRefugeesAtRisk.
In an effort to offer services to particularly vulnerable persons in Yarmouk, UNRWA has worked closely with the General Authority for Palestine Arab Refugees (GAPAR) to resume essential primary health care and disease prevention in Yarmouk.
As of 23 September, a mobile health clinic – one of the Agency’s 25 primary health-care facilities across Syria - is visiting the camp every Wednesday to provide services from the yard of one of the destroyed UNRWA schools.
UN data indicates that the camp was established in 1948. Before the conflict in Syria, the camp was home to 22,600 Palestine refugees. It was taken over by armed opposition groups in 2013. The camp remained closed to civilians for almost four years and houses and infrastructure were damaged in the fighting. In September 2017, civilians were able to return to their homes. All UNRWA installations were in need of repairs.
The whole Palestine population in AlSabina camp suffered from displacement during the crisis and many families left the country and sought refuge in neighboring countries or fled to Europe.
During the conflict, labor opportunities have dwindled and the unemployment rate is still very high with very limited financial resources to help Palestine refugees restore their livelihoods. Like other areas in Syria, displacement, inflation, protection and security risks are among the main concerns shared by Palestine refugees and Syrians alike.
The camp is situated on an area of 0.03 square kilometers. Palestine refugees who came to Syria in 1948 first settled the camp. It also accommodates Palestine refugees who were displaced as a result of the 1967 conflict.
“We were able to treat about 900 patients over the past weeks in our clinic. Every Wednesday, we can receive an average of 65 patients, many of them with chronic diseases and respiratory infections,” said Dr. Imad Hamdan, an UNRWA doctor who works in the clinic. “I think many older persons avoided seeking health care before, as it was too difficult to access.”
“It is heartbreaking to see the conditions they are living in and it makes us very happy to see their sparkling eyes when they come to us”, he added. “It means a lot to them, not only to get health care, but also just to be able to talk. We are like a family to them. It is a tiny bit of normality that came back. We also believe that sometimes symptoms they show are triggered by fear and stress, after the horrors and atrocities they went through.”
Dr. Hamdan also highlighted the important role the clinic plays in awareness-raising and explaining preventative measures to avoid the spread of COVID-19 in the camp. “It would be a catastrophe here, people in Yarmouk cannot bear any additional burden,” he said. “What they need now is hope. Life needs to return to Yarmouk camp, I feel that our clinic is a start of this.”
Before the beginning of the conflict in March 2011, Yarmouk was home to approximately 160,000 Palestine refugees, making it the largest Palestine refugee community in Syria. Located eight kilometers from Damascus, it had a symbolic value for the Palestinian diaspora.
In December 2012, fierce clashes erupted in Yarmouk, causing numerous civilian casualties, severe damage to property and the displacement of thousands of Palestine refugees and Syrians. The camp was under siege from July 2013, drastically restricting the entry of commercial and humanitarian goods.
In January 2014, UNRWA had access to Yarmouk and conducted direct distribution to besieged Palestine refugees. The Agency continued distribution until April 2015, when armed opposition groups captured over 60 per cent of the camp, containing over 90 per cent of the remaining civilian population. This not only made UNRWA unable to carry out any distributions inside Yarmouk but also displaced most of the remaining 18,000 Palestine refugees and other civilians to the neighbouring areas of Yalda, Babila and Beit Saham (YBB).
Later in 2015, UNRWA managed to access the remaining 6,000 Palestine refugees in Yarmouk and YBB through cross-border missions to Yalda and continued until May 2016 when access was blocked. Almost all the remaining Palestine refugees left during the final government offensive for Yarmouk in April-May 2018, after which the government retook control of the camp left in ruins.
Due to the Agency’s unprecedented financial crisis, critical health-care services like those extended to the returned Palestine refugees in Yarmouk are now in jeopardy, putting #PalestineRefugeesAtRisk.
