11 Aug 2015
Wide protests started on Saturday in Yarmouk Camp for Palestinian refugees in Southern Damascus, condemning the living condition and hunger they suffer from, especially after the cease of aid from the international relief organization especially United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). The protests came after calls from many community organizations asking people to gather at the UNRWA’s Center to support Youth in Yarmouk Camp.
The protesters expressed their rejection for the helpless conspiring attitude of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). They raised banners to describe their tragic living conditions and demanded the aid and relief organizations to interfere to help and save the Palestinians remained in the camp.
The participants expressed their anger from the decision of the office of Coordinating the Humanitarian affairs in the United nations which decided to take off Yarmouk Camp from the list of under-siege areas, which resulted in stopping the aid they receive, the same thing UNRWA and other humanitarian organizations did and stopped support to the camp. Protesters warned and expressed their fear from returning the hunger the famine to the camp.
Abo Alaa expressed his surprise of the UN’s decision “We were shocked from the UN’s decision, we could not find any reason for that especially the camp is still devastated with no support and the living conditions are increasingly downward, PLO does not give us anything, and other humanitarian organizations stopped aid to us, I don’t have any income to secure minimum needs of my family.”
Wisam considered the decision as a conspiracy against people in Yarmouk Camp and he related the UN’s decision to controlling the camp by the Islamic state (ISIS) and Nusra Front, he called to differentiate people and civilian’s lives from political and military issues.
Although the UN has issued the decision to delete Yarmouk camp from the list of under-siege areas and stop support only 10 days ago, but in reality, the UNRWA has not provided the camp with aid for almost 2 months, people there relied on aid and support they received from other humanitarian agencies.