TWO MORE PALESTINIANS KILLED IN YARMOUK

Damascus, 1 Jumadil Akhir 1435/ 1 April  2014 (MINA) –  Two Palestinians refugees were killed  Monday in Syrian  civil war in Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camps of Syria.

The Action Group for the Palestinian in Syria  said on a statement that Alaa Hamdan from Yarmouk refugee camp died of his wounds which he sustained in a mortar attack few days ago during the distribution process of food aid in al-Reeja area.

The group  added that the old Khalil Radwan from Dara’ refugee camp  shot dead  by a regime  sniper in the city of Daraa, according to ALRAY, Palestinian Media Agency report quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA).

It is announced yesterday evening in Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus,  the establishment of the  ” Civilian council ”  which consists of national characters from the camp. The announcement took place in a local festival  , celebrating the Land Day , entitled ” Yarmouk   … the land to returned to”.

A limited amount of food aids were distributed to the people of Yarmouk  yesterday. Syrian regime and the Popular Front  have imposed a restricted siege on Yarmouk camp for more than five months. They denied the entry of food and medical supplies into the camp and prevented the people from the movement outside and into it.

Yarmouk Camp  is a 2.11-square-kilometre district of the city of Damascus, populated by Palestinians, with hospitals and schools. It is located 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) from the center of Damascus and inside the municipal boundaries but when established in 1957 was outside the surrounding city.

Yarmouk is an “unofficial” refugee camp; it is home to the largest Palestinian refugee community in Syria. As of June 2002, there were 112,550 registered refugees living in Yarmouk.

Yarmouk was established in 1957 on an area of 2.11 square kilometres (0.81 sq mi) to accommodate refugees who were squatters. Though it is not officially recognized as a refugee camp, road signs leading to this sector of the city read “Mukhayyam al-Yarmouk”, meaning “Yarmouk camp”. Administratively, Yarmouk is a city (madina) in the Damascus governorate.

There are four hospitals and a number of government-run secondary schools. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) operates 20 elementary schools and eight preparatory schools in the camp and sponsors two women’s program centers.

There are three UNRWA health care centers in Yarmouk, two of which received upgrades in 1996 with contributions from the government of Canada. In 1997, six schools were upgraded with contributions from the government of the United States, and a kindergarten was built with funds from the government of Australia. In 1998, the UNRWA was also able to construct a health center funded by the government of the Netherlands.

There is another Health Center whose expertise is devoted to prevention and treatment of Thalasemia. The Center was built in 2009 thanks to funds provided by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) . (T/P04/E01).

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)