Published : 05-02-2022
Volunteers from Khan Eshieh Camp have embarked on a campaign to improve street lighting in the camp.
The drive will see solar energy panels installed across residential thoroughfares.
Activists have called on expatriates and donors to help raise funds in favor of the project.
The power crisis has made the humanitarian situation inside the camp dire, as a cold winter season has overwhelmed the war-torn country and at a time when prices of fuel and wood have skyrocketed.
Civilians continue to raise concerns over the increasing abductions, home-burglary attempts, and sexual harassment reported in the area, particularly overnight due to chronic power blackouts.
Palestinian families taking refuge in Khan Eshieh camp have been struggling with squalid humanitarian conditions inflicted by the ten-year 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.
Volunteers from Khan Eshieh Camp have embarked on a campaign to improve street lighting in the camp.
The drive will see solar energy panels installed across residential thoroughfares.
Activists have called on expatriates and donors to help raise funds in favor of the project.
The power crisis has made the humanitarian situation inside the camp dire, as a cold winter season has overwhelmed the war-torn country and at a time when prices of fuel and wood have skyrocketed.
Civilians continue to raise concerns over the increasing abductions, home-burglary attempts, and sexual harassment reported in the area, particularly overnight due to chronic power blackouts.
Palestinian families taking refuge in Khan Eshieh camp have been struggling with squalid humanitarian conditions inflicted by the ten-year 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.
