Residents of Besieged Yarmouk Camp Send a Distress Call to the World

Residents of Al-Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus sent a distress call to the international community and humanitarian organizations to take immediate action and work on alleviating their suffering caused by the crippling siege imposed by of the Assad regime. The residents of the district, mostly Palestinian-Syrians refugee, said that “our children are starving, and our suffering is further aggravated by the freezing cold sweeping across the region. We have no food or water, and people are melting down snow to get water.” There is also severe shortage of electricity, heating fuel, medicines, vaccines and baby milk as pro-regime forces prevent the entry of any relief aid to the opposition-held district. It is worth noting that the Work Group for Palestinian-Syrians, a rights group that follow up on the situation of Palestinian refugees in Syria, said that 2,589 Palestinian-Syrians had been killed since March 2011. Among the victims are 157 woman, 280 who died of torture, and 84 who were summarily executed. As of November 2014, 80,000 Palestinian-Syrians have fled to neighboring countries, including 14,348 to Jordan and 42,000 to Lebanon according to the Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), while, 27,933 more have arrived in Europe. It is worth noting that approximately half a million Palestinian refugees live in Syria, particularly in the Yarmouk refugee camp in Southern Damascus. (Source: Syrian Coalition + Agencies)