Friday, July 10, 2009

Palestinian refugee dies at the Iraqi-Syrian border


"A Palestinian refugee died on Thursday at the Al Waleed camp, on the Iraqi-Syrian border after a sharp decline in her health condition, while stranded along with hundreds of other refugees on the border. The woman was identified as Suad Abdul-Qader Al Hallaq. The Palestinian refugees who fled Iraq after the war remain stranded in several make-shift refugee camps.

The Union for Palestinian Refugees called on the international community to act and save the lives of the refugees at the Al Waleed refugee camp. Last Friday, a refugee identified as Shihada Mohammad Abu Hamad, died at the same refugee camp due to the lack of medication and equipment at the make-shift clinic in the camp.

There are nearly 1600 refugees in Al Waleed camp, Some of the refugees were sent to Sweden, Norway and the United States, while Sudan said it would host the rest. 39 refugees are expected to be transferred to Sudan next month.

Several Palestinian refugees were abducted, tortured and killed by armed groups in Iraq after the United States army occupied Iraq. Increasing attacks, including abductions and bombings in refugee camps, forced the Palestinian refugees to flee Iraq but got stranded on the borders with Jordan and Syria.

Thirty-four thousand Palestinians lived in Iraq before the American invasion in 2003, Many have since faced harassment, threats of deportation, abuse by the media, arbitrary detention, torture and murder, the Palestinian Right to Return Coalition reported.

Several refugee neighborhoods in Baghdad were bombarded and attacked, and many Palestinians were killed, kidnapped, imprisoned and forced out of the country.

The UNHCR reported that nearly 21000 refugees have left Iraq since 2003, and 1300 are still there.

Fact Sheet – The Palestinian Right to Return Coalition

A number of Palestinians who were forced to leave are now stranded in refugee camps on the Syrian and Jordanian borders:
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