More Palestinians Fleeing Baghdad

WAFA

At least 73 frightened Palestinians have arrived in El Waleed, at the Iraq-Syrian border, after fleeing Baghdad earlier this week following the detention and release of 30 Palestinian men on Tuesday, the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said Friday.

UNHCR said in a press released that their arrival brings to 593 the number of Palestinians stuck at the Iraq-Syria border, many of them for months. Syria has denied them access and they refuse to return to Baghdad, where Palestinians have been the target of numerous attacks.

"UNHCR has not yet had a chance to talk to the newly arrived refugees, who arrived at the border on Wednesday night," reads the press release. "Along with ICRC [International Committee of the Red Cross] and other partners, we are ensuring that enough food, water and relief items are on site. Additional tents are also being delivered."

UNHCR said that conditions at the border are atrocious. It's cold. Clean water has to be trucked in.

"There is limited access to food. Tents are crowded and unhygienic. Tensions are high. The refugees feel very insecure and some report having been victimized by security officials near the border. The group is in a very vulnerable situation with no solution in sight," adds the press release.

The most recent developments occur against a backdrop of unrelenting violence against Palestinian and Syrian refugees in Baghdad. There are an estimated 15,000 Palestinian refugees remaining in Baghdad, less than half the number prior to 2003. Since 2003, many have been kidnapped, tortured or killed, and violent threats against them have become routine.

Estimates of the number killed vary widely. In late December, the Palestinian embassy in Baghdad provided UNHCR with a list of 161 Palestinians killed in Baghdad since 2003. In a 20 January statement, the Head of Refugee Affairs for the Palestine Liberation Organisation stated that 520 Palestinians have been killed, and another 140 wounded by militias inside Iraq since March 2003.

UNHCR added that death threats have increased. Harassment at work has prompted some to stop working, leaving them without a livelihood. "With militia threats increasing, families are continually moving between existing Palestinian settlements and abandoned buildings or makeshift dwellings in Sunni-dominated areas less accessible to Shi'a militias. And many are trying to leave Iraq altogether," according to the UNHCR's press release.