The London-based Palestinian Return Center has submitted two written documents to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to draw the international community's attention to the crises endured by Palestinian refugees in the camps in light of the spread of Coronavirus. In addition, there are dangers that threaten refugees and detainees in Syria due to the possibility of the outbreak of the epidemic because of the lack of healthcare.
The first document, which was adopted as part of the UN's documents for the 44th session of the UNHRC under the number A / HRC / 44 / NGO / 18, has tackled the impacts of UNRWA’s financial crisis, which has led to reducing its humanitarian services and affected more than 5.5 million refugees registered with the Agency. This includes demobilization of day laborers and the closure of vocational training centers, threatening hundreds of thousands of students to get an adequate and fair education.
The Center has raised concerns about the impact of this financial crisis on the deterioration of the health, economic and nutritional status of refugees while restricting economic activities because of the epidemic in the countries they reside in. This threatens their chance to live a decent and safe life, especially in the besieged Gaza Strip and war-torn Syria.
Furthermore, the Center has called on the UNHRC to work on supporting these refugees, as their need for financial, medical and humanitarian aid has become more urgent than ever at this critical stage, warning if serious measures are not taken to protect and support them, the consequences will not be very much less tragic than those wrought by the Coronavirus.
It has also stressed on the importance of finding an urgent political solution to the issue of the Palestinian refugees, confirming that the humanitarian crisis is only the result of the absence of a concrete political plan to allow the Palestinians to enjoy their right to return as well as internationally recognized human rights.
In the second document, under No. A / HRC / 44 / NGO / 45, the Center highlights the seriousness of the “Coronavirus” epidemic among the Palestinian refugees in Syria, where they lack decent livelihoods and public services, after more than nine years of the bloody conflict there .
It has warned that the anti-coronavirus lockdown has made the refugee situation increasingly worrying, reminding of serious concerns raised by the "Action Group for Palestinians of Syria". These concerns because of the "lack of transparency" maintained by the Syrian government regarding the epidemic and which will result in a catastrophic situation in displacement camps, with limited access to running water, pharmacies, and medical facilities.
It has further underscored the dire situation of 1797 Palestinian refugees forcibly held in Syrian detention facilities, warning that an outbreak of COVID-19 in prisons is very likely to result in yet more loss of life and misery. The spokesperson of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Robert Colville, has warned on April 3, 2020, that Syria is one of the countries with a high risk of infection in prisons, as no such action has been taken so far.
The Center has demanded the Syrian Government and all warring parties to take urgent action in order to release the Palestinian detainees, and allow humanitarian actors and medical teams unobstructed access to displacement camps and take preventive measures and distribute hygiene in camps and detention facilities.
It has also called to put pressure on "UNRWA", the General Authority of Palestinian Arab Refugees, and the Syrian Ministry of Health to take urgent measures to meet the medical and humanitarian needs of Palestinian refugees in Syria before the situation reach the "the point of no return."
Source : Safa