Published : 10-04-2021
Pro-regime militias in Syria have been ravaging civilian homes in Khan Eshieh camp for Palestinian refugees and grabbing hold of evacuated buildings.
Local sources told AGPS that Syrian security forces seized last week a five-story building whose owners fled to a European destination on claims that they are affiliated with opposition groups.
AGPS has documented several cases where Palestinian property has been confiscated, destroyed, and/or stolen in displacement camps across the war-ravaged country, including AlSabina, Khan Eshieh, AlNeirab, and Handarat camps.
The stolen/destroyed property is owned by Palestinian activists, journalists, or prisoners accused of affiliations with the Syrian opposition or with terror groups.
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.
Pro-regime militias in Syria have been ravaging civilian homes in Khan Eshieh camp for Palestinian refugees and grabbing hold of evacuated buildings.
Local sources told AGPS that Syrian security forces seized last week a five-story building whose owners fled to a European destination on claims that they are affiliated with opposition groups.
AGPS has documented several cases where Palestinian property has been confiscated, destroyed, and/or stolen in displacement camps across the war-ravaged country, including AlSabina, Khan Eshieh, AlNeirab, and Handarat camps.
The stolen/destroyed property is owned by Palestinian activists, journalists, or prisoners accused of affiliations with the Syrian opposition or with terror groups.
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.
