Published : 04-10-2019
A state of rising fear has overwhelmed Palestinian young men taking refuge in southern Damascus after calls were circulated by the incumbent government for military recruitment.
According to Sawt AlAssima news site, a list of 6,000 wanted residents of southern Damascus was released by the government recruitment branch. Concerned men are required to turn themselves in by the end of October.
Over 5,000 Palestinian refugees have sought shelter in southern Damascus after they fled the embattled Yarmouk Camp due to the heavy shelling by the Syrian and Russian forces, and shortly after ISIS militias held sway over the area in 2015.
Palestinian refugees who joined the Palestine Liberation Army, among other battalions affiliated with the Syrian government, have been enduring serious crackdowns and abuses. A number of Palestinian deserters or draft dodgers have been summoned to questioning by government officers and subjected to psycho-physical torture to force confession.
A number of Palestinian recruits also said they have been forced to carry out exhausting personal chores for government officers against their will and under threat of punishment. Even those who have had their security files worked out have been involved in forced labor.
The fear of conscription, and potential punishment for ducking it or for desertion, is frequently cited by NGOs as one of the main reasons Palestine refugees give for wanting to leave Syria.
A state of rising fear has overwhelmed Palestinian young men taking refuge in southern Damascus after calls were circulated by the incumbent government for military recruitment.
According to Sawt AlAssima news site, a list of 6,000 wanted residents of southern Damascus was released by the government recruitment branch. Concerned men are required to turn themselves in by the end of October.
Over 5,000 Palestinian refugees have sought shelter in southern Damascus after they fled the embattled Yarmouk Camp due to the heavy shelling by the Syrian and Russian forces, and shortly after ISIS militias held sway over the area in 2015.
Palestinian refugees who joined the Palestine Liberation Army, among other battalions affiliated with the Syrian government, have been enduring serious crackdowns and abuses. A number of Palestinian deserters or draft dodgers have been summoned to questioning by government officers and subjected to psycho-physical torture to force confession.
A number of Palestinian recruits also said they have been forced to carry out exhausting personal chores for government officers against their will and under threat of punishment. Even those who have had their security files worked out have been involved in forced labor.
The fear of conscription, and potential punishment for ducking it or for desertion, is frequently cited by NGOs as one of the main reasons Palestine refugees give for wanting to leave Syria.
