A UN delegation has entered Syria’s devastated northwest areas following the 6 February massive earthquake. However UNRWA failed to deliver aid although 1700 Palestinian refugee families live in the stricken area.
The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) Executive Director David Beasley said WFP teams entered Syria’s devastated northwest from the Turkish side.
Palestinian activists in northwestern Syria criticized UNRWA’s failure to send teams as well although 1700 Palestinian refugee families are living in those areas.
The Palestinian activist in northern Syria Ammar Qudsi said that UNRWA has justified its failure under the pretext that they are “hard-to-reach areas.”
Qudsi slammed the Agency’s decision to exclude Palestinian refugees living in northern Syria from its assistance.
700 affected Palestinian families are living in Idlib 500 families in Aleppo 250 families in Deir Ballut camp in the Jenderes district and 70 families in Jenderes city.
UNRWA had excluded the displaced Palestinian refugees in northern Syria from its relief appeal launched on February 7 to obtain $2.7 million to help relief 57000 Palestinian refugees in Syria.
The UN agency limited its appeal to the affected Palestinian refugees living in the refugee camps located in the Syrian-state-run areas including the Neirab camps in Aleppo and the Palestinian Raml camp in Lattakia.
Fayez Abu Eid media official in the Action Group for the Palestinians of Syria said that UNRWA is not fulfilling its duty towards the Palestinian refugees in northern Syria under the pretext that they are living in hard-to-reach areas.
Speaking to the PIC reporter Abu Eid confirmed that they had addressed UNRWA more than once to take immediate and urgent steps to provide relief to Palestinian refugees in all regions of Syria including Palestinian families in northern Syria.
On the other hand Ali Huwaidi Director of Commission 302 for the Defense of Refugees pointed out that UNRWA should provide aid to the Palestinian refugees affected by the earthquake in northern Syria.
Since the February 6 earthquake UNRWA has rushed to provide aid to 58000 affected Palestinian refugees representing 90% of the total number of Palestinian refugees in the Latakia Handarat Raml and Neirab camps in Syrian-state-controlled areas he said.
