EURO-MID: YARMOUK WITNESSES UNPRECEDENTED SUFFERING

Gaza, 17 Jumadil Akhir 1436/6 April 2015 (MINA) – The suffering of 20,000 Palestinians including 3,500 children living in Syria’s Yarmouk camp has reached unprecedented levels and must be alleviated immediately, warns the Geneva-based Euro-Mid Observer for Human Rights.

At least 13 camp residents have been killed since IS fighters broke into the refugee camp including three during the Islamic State bombardment (Jamal Khalifa, Abdullatif Al-Rimawi and Muhammed Saleh), one by an IS sniper and one by Syrian government forces (Rodwan Al-Ahmed), the Euro-Mid Observer said during a press conference in Gaza Strip.

Three other bodies were found beheaded, while five were killed during clashes with IS elements, head of the observer Rami Abdo pointed out, The Palestinian Information Center (PIC) quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

Abdo said that more people were killed in the camp over the past few days, but only 13 victims were documented due to the extremely difficult field conditions in the camp.

Since mid-2013, the northern areas of the camp have been living under a suffocating blockade imposed by Syrian government forces, supported by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP-GC), Abdo continued.

This untenable situation was exacerbated on April 1 when the Islamic State and elements of the Front of Victory (al-Nusra) attempted to widen their control of the camp beyond 80 percent and met local resistance, he added.

“Residents of the camp, especially those living in the vicinity of Palestine Mosque and Safad Street, have endured relentless bombardment for four consecutive days, resulting in the destruction of dozens of buildings and making it impossible for the injured to reach hospitals.”

Abdo underlined that dozens of Yarmouk youths were detained by IS, including 80 from the Arouba area and Madares Street, where two girls and humanitarian activists were kidnapped.

Euro-Mid called on the United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to provide protected humanitarian corridors for delivery of aid and to negotiate with government forces a window of time in which civilians and the injured are able to leave safely.

The European Commission of Human Rights must pressure the Syrian regime to protect the camp’s residents and to lift its siege on the camp, Abdo stressed.(T/P008/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)