166 CHILDREN DIED IN AL-YARMOUK PALESTINIAN REFUGEE CAMP

Damascus, 29 Rabi’ul Akhir 1436/19 February 2015 (MINA) – Geneva-based Friends of Humanity announced on Wednesday that 166 children have died since the start of the regime’s siege of Al-Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp south of Damascus, Anadolu has reported.

The Bashar Al-Assad regime has imposed a strict siege on the refugee camp, which houses thousands of Syrians as well as Palestinians, since July 2013.

In a new report, the NGO described the situation in the refugee camp as “tragic” because of the spread of disease and starvation, and a chronic shortage of medical equipment and medicines.

Since the start of the Syrian crisis in 2011, said FoH, 2,651 Palestinian refugees have been killed, most of them by the regime., Middle East Monitor (MEMO) quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting, Thursday.

“Some died of hunger, some were killed by rocket attacks, some by snipers and some under torture,” the report claimed.

“Some 818 Palestinians were killed inside Syria’s jails, including 293 from Al-Yarmouk Refugee Camp.”

It also said that the Syrian regime carried out “inhumane” measures against the refugee camp, such as cutting water and electricity supplies since April 2013. The refugees are obliged to get their water from specific points secured by relief agencies.

For months, regime forces have been blocking food and children’s milk from going into Al-Yarmouk, putting the refugees under pressure in order to flush out the opposition groups controlling the camp.

Al-Yarmouk was the largest refugee camp in Syria and used to be home to around 500,000 Palestinians, in addition to large numbers of Syrians. Many have fled to Lebanon and other places because of the siege and attacks by regime forces. (T/P002/R03).

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)