Syria’s largest Palestinian refugee camp ‘lies today in ruins’

The largest Palestinian refugee camp in Syria has been destroyed and fled by its inhabitants due to fighting that has persisted more than a month, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said Monday in a press briefing.

“The Yarmouk camp in Damascus lies today in ruins, with hardly a single building that has not been destroyed or damaged. The fighting has been particularly intense in the last month or more. Almost all the Palestine refugees who were there have now fled,” Dujarric said, renewing his appeal for funding to support UNRWA’s humanitarian efforts for Palestinian refugees in Syria.

The Syrian regime has been raiding the camp since April, which resulted in killings and injuries, in addition to the displacement of thousands of inhabitants from Yarmouk and neighbouring areas.

The UN official also warned about the situation in eastern Ghouta, where the humanitarian situation is still catastrophic and in need of UN intervention. “The UN is providing support through the Syrian Arab Red Crescent but stands ready to deliver humanitarian assistance to eastern Ghouta as soon as access is granted to it by the Syrian authorities.”