Published : 09-03-2022
Palestinian refugee women in Syria are among the most vulnerable groups in the war-ravaged country.
Protracted displacement and an unabated COVID-19 outbreak, along with the absence of vital services and psychological support initiatives have added to the torment already experienced by Palestinian women for over a decade.
According to UNRWA records, female Palestine refugees account for 60 per cent of the most vulnerable Palestine refugee caseload in Syria.
Many women have been their families’ sole breadwinners despite their critical health condition and the severe illnesses they suffer.
Thousands of them have been displaced from such refugee camps as Yarmouk and Khan Eshieh to northern Syria, where they have been struggling for survival in impoverished refugee tents and denied access to life-saving healthcare services.
AGPS has documented the death of hundreds of Palestinian women and the enforced disappearance of several others in the embattled Syrian territories.
AGPS data indicates that as many as 487 Palestinian women and girls have died of war-related incidents since the outbreak of the Syrian conflict.
At the same time, AGPS has documented the secret detention of 110 Palestinian women and girls in Syria’s government prisons.
According to affidavits by ex-detainees, Palestinian women and girls have been subjected to harsh psycho-physical torture tactics in Syrian penitentiaries, including electric shocks, heavy beating using iron sticks, and sexual abuse.
Such practices represent flagrant violations of the Declaration on the Protection of Women and Children in Emergency and Armed Conflict of 1974, Article 5, which criminalizes all forms of torture and mistreatment against women and children.
Several women have also gone homeless or widowed after they lost their husbands and/or children in the war or due to torture.
Palestinian refugee women in Syria are among the most vulnerable groups in the war-ravaged country.
Protracted displacement and an unabated COVID-19 outbreak, along with the absence of vital services and psychological support initiatives have added to the torment already experienced by Palestinian women for over a decade.
According to UNRWA records, female Palestine refugees account for 60 per cent of the most vulnerable Palestine refugee caseload in Syria.
Many women have been their families’ sole breadwinners despite their critical health condition and the severe illnesses they suffer.
Thousands of them have been displaced from such refugee camps as Yarmouk and Khan Eshieh to northern Syria, where they have been struggling for survival in impoverished refugee tents and denied access to life-saving healthcare services.
AGPS has documented the death of hundreds of Palestinian women and the enforced disappearance of several others in the embattled Syrian territories.
AGPS data indicates that as many as 487 Palestinian women and girls have died of war-related incidents since the outbreak of the Syrian conflict.
At the same time, AGPS has documented the secret detention of 110 Palestinian women and girls in Syria’s government prisons.
According to affidavits by ex-detainees, Palestinian women and girls have been subjected to harsh psycho-physical torture tactics in Syrian penitentiaries, including electric shocks, heavy beating using iron sticks, and sexual abuse.
Such practices represent flagrant violations of the Declaration on the Protection of Women and Children in Emergency and Armed Conflict of 1974, Article 5, which criminalizes all forms of torture and mistreatment against women and children.
Several women have also gone homeless or widowed after they lost their husbands and/or children in the war or due to torture.
