ACTION ALERT
Updated January 3, 2007
Palestinians Stranded on Iraq Border
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and
other relief agencies, several hundred Palestinians who were forced
to leave their homes in Iraq are now stranded in desolate areas on the Syrian
and Jordanian borders.
Al-Hol and Al-Tanaf camps, located on Iraq's border with Syria, consist of
makeshift tents. The camps have become the home of 655 displaced Palestinian
men, women and children who continue to languish there under extremely
difficult conditions. Another camp, Al-Walid, was just established recently to house
an additional 80 Palestinians, all of whom were forced to leave by militias
loyal to the US-backed Iraqi government.
Al-Tanaf camp with its 350 residents is located in a remote area about 260
kilometers away from the nearest populated area. The only services the camp
receives are provided by local area organizations whose access to the camps
may be limited at any time. About 10% of the refugees in Al-Tanaf need
urgent medical care which they are not receiving.
In Al-Ruweished refugee camp, which is located on the border with Jordan,
there are 148 Palestinians caught in a similar untenable situation. Some of
Al-Ruweished's residents have been there for close to three years. Most of
the children in the camp have been denied education during that time.
BACKGROUND
Largely as a consequence of their expulsion from their own homeland by
Zionists upon the imposition of the state of Israel in 1948, about thirty-four
thousand Palestinian refugees lived in Iraq prior to the American invasion
in 2003 . Many have since faced harassment, threats of deportation, abuse by
the media, arbitrary detention, torture and murder. Palestinian neighborhoods such as al-Hurriyya and al-Baladiyyat in Baghdad have been
bombarded and attacked ever since the US occupation. Many Palestinians were
expelled from their homes and initially took shelter in tents in Haifa
stadium in Baghdad. Others were either killed, imprisoned or have been
forced to leave. According to the UNHCR, a total of about 19,000
Palestinians have left Iraq since 2003, and only 15,000 remain.
The Syrian and Jordanian authorities have thus far refused entry to the
Palestinian refugees currently stranded in Al-Hol, Al-Tanaf, Al-Ruweished
and Al-Walid refugee camps.
Here is how you can learn more and help out:
For a factsheet on the current situation of Palestinian refugees stranded on
the Iraq borders, please see http://al-awdacal.org/iraq-facts.html
For recent exclusive photos from Al-Tanaf refugee camp, please see
http://al-awdacal.org/refugees/iraq-photos.html
TAKE ACTION
We call on all people of conscience to do the following:
1. Contact the US Department of State to demand that the American occupation
forces in Iraq put an end to anti-Palestinian attacks. According to the
Geneva Conventions, the US is obliged and expected to protect all civilians
in areas it is occupying by force.
Write and call Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/mail/?agencyindid=117&type=AN
Address: 2201 C St., N.W.
Washington, DC 20520
Tel: 1-202-647-4000
Fax: 1-202-647-2283
2. Write and call the Syrian embassy in Washington, D.C. to ask that the
stranded Palestinians on Syria's borders be admitted into Syria without
delay.
H.E. Imad Moustapha, Ph.D.
Ambassador of Syria to the U.S.A.
The Embassy of Syria
2215 Wyoming Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008
Tel: 1-202-232-6313
gh1@syrembassy.net
3. Write and call the Jordanian embassy in Washington, D.C. and ask that
the Palestinian refugees stranded in Al-Ruweished camp be admitted into
Jordan without any further delay:
H.E. Ambassador Karim Kawar
Embassy of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
3504 International Drive, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008
Tel: 1-202-966- 2664
Fax: 1-202-966-3110
E-mail: HKJEmbassyDC@aol.com
4. Write and call the Iraqi "embassy" in Washington, D.C. and demand an
immediate end to the persecution of Palestinian refugees in Iraq.
Embassy of Iraq
Tel: 1-202-483-7500
Fax: 1-202-462-5066; 1-202-462-0564
Email: admin@iraqiembassy.org
5. Write and call United Nations offices in New York and demand that:
-- The United Nations agencies do their utmost to ensure that the
Palestinian population in Iraq is protected in the interim.
-- That UNRWA and UNHCR provide the refugees stranded at the Iraqi-Syrian
and Iraqi-Jordanian border with shelter, basic and medical needs until their
situation is
resolved.
-- UNRWA and UNHCR help Syria and Jordan as needed, to admit the stranded
Palestinians.
-- Demand that The United Nations act to ensure implementation of the
inalienable natural, legal, individual and collective rights of all
Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and land of origin in
Palestine per United Nations Resolution 194. This resolution has been
affirmed more than 130 times by the United Nations General Assembly since
1948 with the imposition of the state of Israel, and the expulsion and
dispossession of the refugees.
Write and Call
H.E. Ban Ki-Moon
The Secretary General of the United Nations at:
inquiries@un.org
UNRWA Liaison Office, New York
Chief, Liaison Office - Mr Andrew Whitley
One United Nations Plaza, Room DC1-1265, New York, NY 10017, USA
Telephone: 1-212-963-2255
Fax: 1-212-935-7899
____________________________
Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return
Coalition
PO Box 131352
Carlsbad, CA 92013, USA
Tel: 760-685-3243
Fax: 360-933-3568
E-mail: info@al-awda.org
WWW: http://al-awda.org
Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return
Coalition (PRRC) is the largest network of grassroots activists
and students dedicated to Palestinian human rights. We are
a not for profit tax-exempt educational and charitable 501(c)(3)
organization as defined by the Internal Revenue Service
(IRS) of the United States of America. Under IRS guidelines,
your donations to PRRC
are tax-deductible. |
