Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA DEPLORES ESCALATING VIOLENCE IN SOUTHERN SYRIA WHICH HAS LED TO LARGE SCALE DISPLACEMENT,
\nIMPEDED HUMANITARIAN ACCESS AND RESULTED IN THE DEATHS OF PALESTINE REFUGEES
\n08 March 2017
\nStatement by Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA Spokesperson Chris Gunness
\nÄ¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA is alarmed by the escalation of violence in Dera\u2019a Governorate, south of the Syrian capital, Damascus. Fighting among parties to the conflict in the area is causing the displacement of Palestine refugees, impeding humanitarian access to critical aid and has resulted in the deaths of Palestine refugees in recent weeks.
\nOver the last three days, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA has been providing assistance to over 200 families who have escaped violence in the village of Jilin located 25 km west of Dera\u2019a City. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA estimates that over 90 percent of the Palestine refugee families from Jilin have fled as a result of the escalation of armed violence reported to have started on February 20. The two Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA schools in the village are now closed.
\nAlthough Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA is currently providing food and non-food items to the families who have reached its installations in Dera\u2019a City and Damascus, the Agency is gravely concerned about the families who have sought refuge in the town of Muzeirib located in a hard to reach area. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA continues to provide services such as schooling and health provision to an estimated 3,000 families in the area, however to receive Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA humanitarian assistance comprised of cash for food, supplementary food parcels and non-food items, Palestine refugees have to travel to Dera\u2019a City for it. That can take up to eight hours to cover a 15 km journey on a dangerous road subject to sporadic closure.
\nThe events which have taken place in Jilin are part of a larger pattern of population displacement caused by increased fighting in the south. In early February, 200 Palestine refugee families were displaced eastwards from the villages of Jamleh, Ash Shajarah, Koya, Tassil into Muzeirib and Jilin.
\nThe escalation of violence, in Dera\u2019a City and the western countryside amongst the parties to the conflict exposes Palestine refugees to the risk of death and serious injury. In February, multiple sources reported that up to four Palestine refugees, including an elderly man and a child, were allegedly killed as a result of the fighting. In addition, an estimated 2,500 Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA students have missed an average of two weeks of schooling with intermittent school closures starting as of February 12. For students newly displaced from Jilin, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA is supporting their re-enrolment both within the Dera\u2019a Governorate and Damascus.
\nAs an imperative to protect lives, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA repeats its demand that all parties to the Syria conflict comply with their obligations under international law and desist from conducting conflict in civilian areas. Armed groups and other parties must comply with their legal obligations to protect civilians and facilitate safe and uninterrupted humanitarian access to live-saving services and relief assistance.
\nBACKGROÄ¢¹½ÊÓƵD INFORMATION
\nÄ¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA is confronted with an increased demand for services resulting from a growth in the number of registered Palestine refugees, the extent of their vulnerability and their deepening poverty. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions and financial support has been outpaced by the growth in needs. As a result, the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA Programme Budget, which supports the delivery of core essential services, operates with a large shortfall. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA encourages all Member States to work collectively to exert all possible efforts to fully fund the Agency\u2019s Programme Budget. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA emergency programmes and key projects, also operating with large shortfalls, are funded through separate funding portals.
\nÄ¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA is a United Nations agency established by the General Assembly in 1949 and mandated to provide assistance and protection to some 5 million registered Palestine refugees. Its mission is to help Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank and the Gaza Strip achieve their full human development potential, pending a just and lasting solution to their plight. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, protection and microfinance.
\nFor more information, please contact:
\nChristopher Gunness
\nSpokesperson, Director of Advocacy & Strategic Communications
\nMobile:
\n+972 (0)54 240 2659
\nOffice:
\n+972 (0)2 589 0267
\nc.gunness@unrwa.org
\nSami Mshasha
\nChief of Communications, Arabic Language Spokesperson
\nMobile:
\n+972 (0)54 216 8295
\nOffice:
\n+972 (0)2 589 0724
\ns.mshasha@unrwa.org
\nhttps:\/\/www.unrwa.org\/newsroom\/official-statements\/unrwa-deplores-escalating-violence-southern-syria-which-has-led-large<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA DEPLORES ESCALATING VIOLENCE IN SOUTHERN SYRIA WHICH HAS LED TO LARGE SCALE DISPLACEMENT, IMPEDED HUMANITARIAN ACCESS AND RESULTED IN THE DEATHS OF PALESTINE REFUGEES 08 March 2017 Statement by Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA Spokesperson Chris Gunness Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵRWA is alarmed by the escalation of violence in Dera\u2019a Governorate, south of the Syrian capital, Damascus. Fighting among parties to […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":169,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[],"document-category":[1338],"document-source":[1817],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[],"entity":[],"document-language":[6542],"class_list":["post-7823","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","document-category-statement","document-source-united-nations-relief-and-works-agency-for-palestine-refugees-in-the-near-east-unrwa","document-language-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/7823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/document"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/169"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/7823\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=7823"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=7823"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=7823"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=7823"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=7823"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=7823"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=7823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}