Published : 03-04-2022
Civilians and activists have called on local authorities in Damascus to reactivate the local committee which was previously tasked with administering civilians’ affairs in Yarmouk Camp.
They said the services department assigned by Damascus Governorate has failed to take note of civilians’ needs and rehabilitate vital facilities.
Yarmouk’s local committee was dissolved by the former Prime Minister Emad Khamis in late 2018.
According to a survey by the UN Training and Research Agency (UNITAR) in March 2019, Yarmouk camp, with an area less than 2.11 sq km, was ranked seventh on the list of the most destroyed areas in Syria.
Previous attempts to include the camp within the organisational scope of what is known as "Greater Damascus Governorate" failed due to the administrative independence granted to the camp by the Syrian Cabinet in 1964, in accordance with which the camp became an independent administrative unit affiliated with the Ministry of Local Administration, managed by the local committee of Yarmouk camp. This was headed by a Palestinian appointed by the General Authority for Palestinian Arab Refugees, in partnership with the country leadership of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party (Palestinian branch), along with a municipal council composed of figures from the camp.
In order to remove the administrative and legal obstacles that prevented the inclusion of the camp within the plans for the Damascus Governorate, the Cabinet said in November 2018 that the governorate of Damascus must replace the local committee of the Yarmouk camp, including its rights and duties, and that committee members must be put at the disposal of the governorate. The argument was that the preparation for the camp's reconstruction phase, and the capabilities it needed, were not available to the local committee of Yarmouk camp. Actually, though, the decision was a coup against the 1964 decision in preparation for putting the camp at the disposal of the governorate, under the heavy shadow of Law No. 10, which means removing the camp as a place where planning regulations have been violated and creating a new organisational zone.
Civilians and activists have called on local authorities in Damascus to reactivate the local committee which was previously tasked with administering civilians’ affairs in Yarmouk Camp.
They said the services department assigned by Damascus Governorate has failed to take note of civilians’ needs and rehabilitate vital facilities.
Yarmouk’s local committee was dissolved by the former Prime Minister Emad Khamis in late 2018.
According to a survey by the UN Training and Research Agency (UNITAR) in March 2019, Yarmouk camp, with an area less than 2.11 sq km, was ranked seventh on the list of the most destroyed areas in Syria.
Previous attempts to include the camp within the organisational scope of what is known as "Greater Damascus Governorate" failed due to the administrative independence granted to the camp by the Syrian Cabinet in 1964, in accordance with which the camp became an independent administrative unit affiliated with the Ministry of Local Administration, managed by the local committee of Yarmouk camp. This was headed by a Palestinian appointed by the General Authority for Palestinian Arab Refugees, in partnership with the country leadership of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party (Palestinian branch), along with a municipal council composed of figures from the camp.
In order to remove the administrative and legal obstacles that prevented the inclusion of the camp within the plans for the Damascus Governorate, the Cabinet said in November 2018 that the governorate of Damascus must replace the local committee of the Yarmouk camp, including its rights and duties, and that committee members must be put at the disposal of the governorate. The argument was that the preparation for the camp's reconstruction phase, and the capabilities it needed, were not available to the local committee of Yarmouk camp. Actually, though, the decision was a coup against the 1964 decision in preparation for putting the camp at the disposal of the governorate, under the heavy shadow of Law No. 10, which means removing the camp as a place where planning regulations have been violated and creating a new organisational zone.
