Syria’s Foreign and Expatriates Minister, Faysal Mikdad, received last week Commissioner-General of the United Nations’ Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Philippe Lazzarini.

Mikdad affirmed that the Syrian government will to provide facilities and support for UNRWA to meet the needs of the Palestinian refugees in terms of basic services such as education and medical care.

He stressed the need to enhance cooperation and coordination between the Syrian government and UNRWA in order to boost the Agency’s performance across Palestinian refugee camps in Syria, which have sustained massive destruction.

He also condemned all terrorist practices perpetrated by the Israeli occupation authorities against the Palestinian people, stressing the need to secure Palestinians’ inalienable rights, notably the right to establish an independent, sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

For his part, Lazzarini said the agency is making significant efforts to meet the urgent needs of the Palestinian refugee community in Syria.

Lazzarini hoped that an international conference would be held next October to provide support to the Agency.

Ten years after demonstrations started in Syria, the majority of Palestinian refugees sheltered in the war-torn country have been grappling with an abject humanitarian situation.

UN data indicates that over half of the Palestine refugees in the country have been displaced at least once because of the brutal conflict that ensued, including 120,000 who have sought safety in neighbouring countries, mainly Lebanon and Jordan, and beyond;

Once a vibrant community of over 550,000 people, Palestinians had come to Syria in two main waves in 1948 and 1967 to settle in 12 camps across the country. Yarmouk, the most famous of the Palestine refugee camps, became known as “the capital of Palestine refugees.”

438,000 Palestine refugees remain in the country – 91 per cent of whom live in absolute poverty - and who have been among those worst affected by the conflict.