Palestinian Family Fleeing War-Torn Syria Arrested on Way to Turkey

Palestinian Family Fleeing War-Torn Syria Arrested on Way to Turkey

A displaced girl rides in the back of a truck as people displaced from the south of Idlib province arrive at a camp for the internally displaced near Deir Ballout, near the Turkish border on Feb. 4. GETTY IMAGES

Palestinian refugee Maymoun Naser, born in 1985, was arrested by Syrian security forces last week as he tried to cross the borderlands of the northern Syrian province of Idlib with his wife and two children, trying to get to safety to Turkey.

Local sources said that Maymoun’s wife and two twin infants have been held at a health center in Aleppo. The father’s condition and whereabouts could not be identified.

Almost ten years into the conflict, Palestine refugees continue to be one of the most vulnerable groups in Syria with immense humanitarian needs.

Palestinian refugees in Syria (PRS) continue to launch cries for help over their deteriorating humanitarian condition due to the sharp decrease in the exchange rate of the Syrian pound compared to the USD and their lack of access to the local labor market. The price leap has also overburdened the cash-stripped refugees. House rents have also seen a striking hike from previous years.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has warned that over 90 per cent of Palestine refugee households in Syria live in poverty and 40 per cent remain in protracted displacement as a result of conflict and the damage and destruction of their homes, UN Agency for Palestine Refugees.

UNRWA said in its 2020 Syria regional crisis emergency appeal that 126,000 PRS are identified as extremely vulnerable; 89% live in poverty; 91% live in extreme poverty; and 80% rely on UNRWA cash assistance as their main source of income.

UNRWA also said that 55% of PRS do not possess valid legal residency documents; 100% of PRS are in need of winterization assistance; and 86% of PRS households are reported to be in debt.

The majority of Palestinians sheltered in displacement camps set up across the Syrian territories have remained at bay from political calculations and frequently refused attempts by all warring parties to drag them into the raging warfare, saying their priority is to secure safe shelters for their children and families pending a just and lasting solution to their refugee plight and return to their motherland—Palestine.

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