Syria Today | Stranded

Stranded

Words Fay Ferguson
Photos Phil Sands

Sixty-four Palestinian refugees from Iraq trapped in no-man’s land between the Syrian and Iraqi borders began a new life in Chile in April. Yet thousands of others still stranded at border camps in the desert continue to suffer without any certainty of a brighter future.

The five-kilometre stretch of no-man’s land between Syria and Iraq is a hostile environment. Its rough desert plains are crawling with scorpions and snakes, whilst temperatures fall into the minuses in winter and top 50°C in summer. Yet hundreds of Palestinian refugees from Iraq are living here at al-Tanf camp. Almost half of them are children. A further 2,000 refugees are suffering under even worse conditions in al-Walid across the Iraqi border.

“Life at al-Tanf is extremely difficult because of the harsh desert climate and isolation of the camp. The conditions these people live under are extremely inappropriate. Every month more refugees arrive,” Laurens Jolles, chief of UNHCR Syria, said.

Since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, Palestinian-Iraqis have been persecuted by Shiite militias because of the close ties they had with Saddam Hussein’s regime. Receiving death threats posted through their doors such as “Iraq is only for Iraqis, leave or we will kill you” or “You must leave because you assisted Saddam and the resistance”, many fled their homes straight away. But some stayed, hoping the threats would not turn into action.

As the violence in Iraq escalated, many became victims of rape, torture, kidnappings and murder. Beaten bodies with marks of stubbed-out cigarettes were paraded through Palestinian districts in Baghdad and homes were ransacked. Afforded little protection by Iraq’s new government, thousands of Palestinian-Iraqis were forced to flee the country in search of safety.

Relocation

Despite the fact that these refugees are some of the most vulnerable victims of Iraq’s bloody civil war, their Palestinian identity means they face tight asylum restrictions when trying to enter neighbouring countries. Syria, which has its own internal economic challenges to contend with, already hosts over 500,000 Palestinian refugees. It is also struggling to cope with an estimated 1.5m Iraqi citizens who flooded into the country after the 2003 invasion.

In 2006, Syria nevertheless allowed 350 Palestinian-Iraqis stranded in no-man’s land between Jordan and Iraq to set up camp at al-Hol in the east of the country. Despite pleas from UNHCR to all of Iraq’s neighbours and the international community, Syria was the only country to make an exception to its rules and allow these refugees over its borders.

For the majority of Palestinian-Iraqis seeking refuge in neighbouring countries, however, the doors have largely remained shut. Consequently, many have either entered illegally with false Iraqi passports or been forced to set up tents in the desert.

“I found my father stabbed to death in the street by our home. We had no choice but to leave. We’ve been at this camp for one year, four months and one day,” explained Mohammad Ahmad who arrived at al-Tanf in December 2006.

Mohammad is one of the lucky few to be temporarily relocated to Chile this April. Chile, which has the largest Palestinian community outside Palestine, is the only country so far to open its doors to al-Tanf refugees. In total, it will take 117 people. Sixty-four of these already moved to neighbourhoods just north of Santiago last month, where they are now beginning to rebuild their lives. The last group of 53 is set to leave in the coming weeks. The remaining 550 refugees, some of who have been in al-Tanf for almost two years now, must wait until another country opens its borders to them.

“I feel happy that I’m taking my children out of the desert, but I’m also sad to be leaving so many others behind me who are going nowhere. They remain trapped in this prison,” Ahmad said, kicking the dirt around him.

Harsh conditions

Last winter, heavy rainfall flooded the camp and temporarily cut off the electricity, whilst relentless snowstorms froze water supplies at times. “The winter was really tough, people would stay up all night scraping the snow off their tents to stop them falling down,” said Dr Hassan, a Palestine Red Crescent (PRC) doctor who has been working at the camp since August 2007.

Now strong desert storms rip through al-Tanf and tear tents apart. Meanwhile the daily threat of poisonous scorpion stings and snake bites is increasing as the desert heats up.

The camp has also been plagued by a series of fires. In the biggest blaze, 40 tents burnt down and 11 families lost what little precious belongings they had. “That fire resulted in many casualties, we had to treat 16 cases of acute asthma, six cases of primary wounds and three cases of first primary wounds and three cases of first and second-degree burns,” Hassan said.

Almost half of the refugees are under 18 years of age, and many of them suffer from chronic diahorrea, fevers and vomiting. Some refugees have arrived at the camp in need of operations for gunshot wounds and shrapnel injuries. Although there are PRC emergency doctors living at al-Tanf, the nearest hospital is three hours away in Damascus, and only the most critical cases can be taken there.

Since the camp first opened in May 2006, roughly 40 babies have been born. Expecting mothers can go hospital to give birth, but two weeks after delivery they must return to the camp where the dust, minimal sanitation and extreme temperatures put their babies’ lives at risk every day.

Besides the physical hardships that come with living in the desert, the refugees must also deal with the psychological effects of living in no-man’s land. Feeling like caged animals and with fading hopes of ever leaving al-Tanf, many are depressed.

“One of the worst things for the refugees is that they are in a permanent state of ‘waiting.’ They are between borders and have no control over their lives, they are completely dependent on aid organisations and this is very disheartening,” Astrid Haaland, Iraqi Palestine refugees team leader for UNRWA, said.

Aid

UNHCR and aid organisations like UNRWA, UNICEF, Syrian Arab Red Crescent and PRC do their best to improve conditions at the camp. UNHCR’s Jolles explained that the refugees are not short of material, food or water supplies. He added that special programmes have been set up to help them deal with their traumatic experiences in Iraq.

In February 2007, UNRWA opened a school which currently teaches over 100 children. Eight qualified refugees were hired as teachers who were given permission by the Syrian Government to travel to Damascus for training.

In addition, Palestinian organisations including Hamas, Islamic Jihad, PFLP and PFLP-GC frequently send in humanitarian aid. There have been a number of marriages at the camp and the newly-weds often receive a gift of up to USD 1,000 from these organisations to start off their new life.

Mohammad Habash, director of the Damascus Centre for Islamic Studies, explained that Syrians were also concerned to help the refugees. “Our centre tries to support the refugees in many different ways. We have sent in sheikhs to write Islamic contracts and officiate at weddings,” he said.

While all of the refugees hope one day to return to Palestine, right now they are desperately in need of a short-term solution to their wretched situation. Their only hope is that other members of the international community will also open up their borders in the near future, so that they can temporarily relocate to a safe and humane environment.