Desperate Situation in Palestine Refugee Camp of Yermouk

Never has the hour been more desperate in the Palestine refugee camp of Yarmouk.

As fighting intensifies inside the camp, UNRWA strongly appeals to all armed actors to cease hostilities that place civilians in acute danger and to withdraw immediately from civilian populated areas. 

Since April 1, this residential area of Damascus, where 18,000 people have already been trapped for over two years, has been engulfed by intense fighting. Men, women, and children are cowering in their battered homes, desperate for security, food, and water. Amnesty International reports that at least 18 civilians, including a 12-year-old girl and a humanitarian worker, have been killed since the armed group, calling itself ISIS, has attacked the camp over the past week.

For over a year now, the besieged inhabitants of Yarmouk, including 3,500 children, have been wholly reliant on UNRWA's critical food and medicine distributions. These distributions were intermittent at most due to lack of access. Now with heavy fighting, UNRWA has been completely barred from the camp. 

We were last able to distribute life-saving food parcels on March 30. By now, all of that food will have been eaten. People are starving and terrified. 

UNRWA calls on the international community, including the United Nations Security Council, to take swift political action to ensure that all civilians are protected in accordance with the UN charter and international law. Failure to do so could lead to the gravest and most appalling of consequences for civilians in Yarmouk. 

Once granted access, UNRWA will do whatever necessary to put an end to the misery the people of Yarmouk are facing. But, the humanitarian needs will be unprecedented, and UNRWA must have the resources to stabilize the situation in the camp to end the appallingly inhumane conditions. Please help us. 

As we mark the fourth anniversary of the devastating war, UNRWA remains the main lifeline for over 560,000 Palestine refugees in Syria. Whether internally displaced near Yarmouk or throughout Syria, or having fled to neighboring Lebanon or Jordan, we are providing nearly 100% of these refugees with critical food aid, protection, healthcare, and education for children. This task is immense, and extremely dangerous, as we've already tragically lost fourteen of our staff members there. But, UNRWA won’t give up. 

ENDS

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