The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) continues to raise alarm bells over the deteriorating humanitarian situation of Palestinian refugees in war-torn Syria.

UNRWA said the ongoing crisis in Syria, which just entered its eleventh year and has been aggravated by COVID-19 and its related socioeconomic consequences, casts a dark shadow on the lives of Palestine refugees remaining in the country.

Some 60 per cent of Palestine refugees have been displaced from their homes at least once and many have lost their jobs and sources of income; they continue to struggle with the adverse conditions affecting their daily lives.

In Syria, UNRWA provides cash assistance to some 145,000 Palestine refugees belonging to most vulnerable categories, helping them meet their basic needs.

The protracted conflict has devastated human security and left 91 per cent of the 438,000 Palestine refugees estimated to remain in the country in absolute poverty and 40 per cent displaced.

As the coronavirus pandemic has rebounded around the MENA region and the globe, Palestinian refugees in war-torn Syria continue to struggle with growing poverty and economic hardship.

Many PRS lost their sources of income; refugee camps have seen unprecedented levels of destruction; rental prices have dramatically gone up; undernourishment and poverty have been a daily nightmare.

Due to the serious protection gaps, children have been forced to drop out of school and join armed groups to help feed their starving families.Hundreds of families have had women as their sole breadwinners; and in several other cases boys and girls are spotted begging in the street for a few pounds.