Published : 10-04-2020
Residents of Khan Eshieh refugee camp have denounced the apathy shown by the local municipality regarding their appeals to clear the trash piles accumulated near residential neighborhoods located west of the main access road.
Civilians said the mounds of uncleared garbage pose serious health threats and put their children’s hygiene at risk particularly amid the coronavirus outbreak.
They called on municipality staff and the concerned authorities to urgently embark on a sterilization drive so as to disinfect residential neighborhoods and public facilities in the area.
Palestinian families taking refuge in Khan Eshieh camp have been struggling with squalid humanitarian conditions inflicted by the nine-year long 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.
Residents of Khan Eshieh refugee camp have denounced the apathy shown by the local municipality regarding their appeals to clear the trash piles accumulated near residential neighborhoods located west of the main access road.
Civilians said the mounds of uncleared garbage pose serious health threats and put their children’s hygiene at risk particularly amid the coronavirus outbreak.
They called on municipality staff and the concerned authorities to urgently embark on a sterilization drive so as to disinfect residential neighborhoods and public facilities in the area.
Palestinian families taking refuge in Khan Eshieh camp have been struggling with squalid humanitarian conditions inflicted by the nine-year long 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.
