Monday, October 09, 2006
Palestinian refugees stranded at Syrian border
Humanitarian
The Syrian Organisation for Human Rights in Syria (SOHR) said on Sunday that it was deeply concerned about "the deteriorating humanitarian condition" of the Palestinians who are stranded on the Iraqi-Syrian border and who include about 150 children. At present, there are 344 Palestinians at the Tanaf checkpoint and they are all reluctant to return to Iraq.
Iraq's ousted President Saddam Hussein had provided Palestinian refugees in Iraq with privileges, including free housing, stipends and government jobs. The largesse he showered them enraged many Iraqis, who coped with the deprivations of nearly 13 years of UN imposed sanctions, which ended after Saddam's ouster in 2003.
Scores of Iraqis attacked Palestinian homes in Baghdad after the Saddam regime's fall since Palestinians were seen as Saddam supporters. The attacks forced many Palestinians to flee the country or go into hiding.
Palestinians began flocking to the Tanaf checkpoint, some 306 km north-east of Damascus, last May, two days after the Syrian authorities allowed 287 Palestinians who were stranded for two months on the common border to enter its territory in what Syria said was a "humanitarian" gesture. Later, however, the Syrian Foreign Ministry said that it would not allow additional Palestinians from Iraq to enter its territory. Syria seems reluctant to allow them in fearing that so doing would encourage other Palestinians who live in Iraq to head to Syria and thus overburden it. Already, Syria hosts about 500,000 Palestinians and more than 500,000 Iraqi refugees.
Iraq's ousted President Saddam Hussein had provided Palestinian refugees in Iraq with privileges, including free housing, stipends and government jobs. The largesse he showered them enraged many Iraqis, who coped with the deprivations of nearly 13 years of UN imposed sanctions, which ended after Saddam's ouster in 2003.
Scores of Iraqis attacked Palestinian homes in Baghdad after the Saddam regime's fall since Palestinians were seen as Saddam supporters. The attacks forced many Palestinians to flee the country or go into hiding.
Palestinians began flocking to the Tanaf checkpoint, some 306 km north-east of Damascus, last May, two days after the Syrian authorities allowed 287 Palestinians who were stranded for two months on the common border to enter its territory in what Syria said was a "humanitarian" gesture. Later, however, the Syrian Foreign Ministry said that it would not allow additional Palestinians from Iraq to enter its territory. Syria seems reluctant to allow them in fearing that so doing would encourage other Palestinians who live in Iraq to head to Syria and thus overburden it. Already, Syria hosts about 500,000 Palestinians and more than 500,000 Iraqi refugees.
