RAMALLAH (PIC)– Hundreds of Palestinian refugees forced out of their homes in war-torn Iraq and settled eventually in Brazil have complained of the miserable conditions they and their families are experiencing because no one is taking care of them.
In an appeal they sent to international human rights institutions including the UNHCR the refugees asserted they haven’t tasted the meaning of living since they arrived in Brazil two years ago adding that many of them suffer from chronic diseases but no adequate medical attention was given to them in this regard.
“Many of us are sick but no one extend a hand of help for us… the ESAF organization that supervise us isn’t fit to care for animals let alone caring for human being? This organization pays no respect to the simplest human needs… if they promise they tell a lie and they rarely visit us… they don’t mind what happens to us” said the refugees in the appeal call.
They added “The UNHCR which is the sponsor of all this program specified a period of two years for a humanitarian program it had planned for us since we left Iraq but the period has expired now and they told us to mange our own affairs from now on”.
But the refugees confirmed they couldn’t manage their own affairs due to the poor economic condition and inadequate job opportunities in Brazil that made them unable to find job and live independently.
“We are foreigners here and we have a culture language and traditions which are different from that of Brazilians that must be taken into consideration before anyone ask us to manage our own affair” the refugees underlined fearing they and their families would end up begging in the streets and searching for food in the garbage.
As far as the Palestinian embassy in Brazil is concerned the refugees underscored that officials of the embassy did not even bother themselves to pay a visit to the refugees despite the persistent appeals they are sending to them to look into their situation.
“If no one could ensure an honorable life conditions for us and for our children then they should work hard to return us back to our own country Palestine” they stressed.
Tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees living in Iraq were forced out of their homes at gunpoint at the hands of armed Iraqi militias shortly after the USA and its allies invaded Iraq and ousted Iraq’s President Saddam Hussein in 2003.
