On Monday, the United Nations Security Council issued a statement saying it would look at how to help some 18,000 Palestinian refugees and Syrian civilians in a camp largely taken over by Islamic State as a top U.N. official suggested it consider measures to evacuate people.
The head of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), Pierre Krahenbuhl, has reportedly briefed U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the 15-member council about the Yarmouk camp on the outskirts of Damascus, just a few miles (kilometers) from President Bashar al-Assad’s palace.
“What the civilians in Yarmouk are most concerned about right now is bare survival. It’s as simple and straightforward as that,” Krahenbuhl told reporters
United Nations officials said on Sunday that some civilians stranded in the war-torn district of Yarmouk in Southern Damascus have been evacuated.
The Yarmouk Camp for Palestinian refugees was taken over by militants of the Islamic State (IS/ISIS) on Saturday, following battles with rebels of Aknaf Bait al-Maqdis.
The U.N. Security Council said it would “look into further measures that can be taken to help in providing the necessary protection and assistance.” The council called for safe passage and evacuation of civilians from Yarmouk.
President Khoja calls upon the UN and Arab countries to take urgent action to save the residents of Yarmouk from Assad’s barrel bombs and ISIS’s barbarity.
“ISIS militants broke into the camp days ago, killed and arrested several of its inhabitants who have been under siege for over 700 days,” Khoja said. “Despite the crippling siege, regime attempts to storm the camp were met by heroic resistance by our Palestinian-Syrian brothers. However, ISIS’s infiltration of the camp has caused exposure to attacks by regime forces and ISIS.”
Khoja urges rebel factions operating in southern Damascus and its rural areas to help their partners, who are defending the camp against ISIS and regime forces onslaught. He also calls on humanitarian organizations to expeditiously deliver relief aid and medical supplies to the camp and to secure safe corridors for children, women and the elderly to evacuate the ravaged camp. (Source: Syrian Coalition)