A group of activists launched a charity initiative which they called the Mercy Fund” to help alleviate the difficult living conditions in Neirab camp for Palestinian refugees in the Syrian city of Aleppo.
Speaking to the PIC reporter Muhammad al-Hassan one of the initiative’s organizers pointed out that the idea is about putting boxes in 10 shops in the camp where donors can offer medicines clothes and foodstuffs.
By the end of every day all the donations are collected and later distributed to the needy families he added.
Al-Hassan indicated that the initiative comes in light of poor living condition in the refugee camp due to the high unemployment rate and decrease in UNRWA aid in Syria.
Similar charity initiatives were launched in Neirab refugee camp by local residents with the support of Palestinian refugees who managed to travel abroad.
Neirab Palestine refugee camp is the largest and most densely populated official camp for Palestine refugees in Syria 13km east of the city of Aleppo near Aleppo airport.
It was established between 1948 and 1950 for refugees from northern Palestine on 0.15 square kilometers in and around army barracks constructed by the Allied Forces during World War II.
The refugees found shelter in the barracks which they modified as best they could to provide minimal privacy and to accommodate the needs of their growing families.
Approximately 18000 registered Palestine refugees live in Neirab. The camp suffers from overcrowding and a lack of privacy.
One of the local residents Ali al-Ahmad told the PIC reported that Neirab and all Palestinian refugee camps are in dire need for such humanitarian initiatives.
He further called on UNRWA to bear its responsibilities towards the Palestinian refugees.
The location of the camp near the military airport meant that the area was exposed to hazards including mortars and shelling between the start of 2013 and the end of 2018.
The camp came under several months of siege by armed opposition groups on the one hand and the Syrian regime forces on the other in 2013 which complicated the humanitarian conditions in it.
