The Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp, south of the capital, Damascus, suffered the highest number of Palestinian-Syrian fatalities since the outbreak of the Syrian uprising for freedom in Syria 2011.

The news comes in the latest report from the Action Group for the Palestinians of Syria (AGPS).

In an interview with SY24, a spokesperson from the AGPS’ media office said that over a third of the 4,116 Palestinian refugees, 493 of them women, documented killed in various locations across Syria since 2011, died in Yarmouk camp.

The AGPS official told SY24 that 1,490 of Yarmouk’s residents had died, due to the Assad regime’s siege, destruction and attempts to regain control of the camp, with Yarmouk witnessing horrendous devastation and mass starvation. The spokesperson added that the Daraa refugee camp saw the second largest number of Palestinian victims, with the AGPS documenting 272 of its residents killed since 2011.

Khan el Shieh camp in Damascus countryside saw the third-largest number of residents killed during this period, followed by Neirab camp in Aleppo with 184 victims and Al Husseiniya camp with 127. Meanwhile, the group reported that 194 Palestinian victims whose residency status could not be ascertained were also documented as killed.

The AGPS official added that 1, 225 of the documented Palestinian victims died due to bombardment and 1,111 were documented killed by gunshot wounds, while 636 were documented as being killed under torture, including women, children, and elderly people of both sexes.

The spokesperson also revealed that the number of Palestinians from Syria documented as having drowned while attempting to cross the Mediterranean to seek asylum in Europe has risen to 72, while more than 1,000 more died of other causes, including bombings, field executions, siege and assassination.

It should be noted that these are only the numbers which AGPS has so far been able to formally document, with many more 'disappeared'into regime prisons and many families fearful of revealing 'disappearances' or fatalities over well-founded safety concerns. It should also be noted that Palestinians in the majority of the camps and in other areas under the control of the Syrian regime continue to suffer from marginalization, especially in terms of living, services, and even regarding security issues.

Article and photo of Yarmouk camp from SY24. Published by SY24 on February 20, 2022.
Original article (in Arabic): https://www.sy-24.com/82555/news/%D9%85%D8%AE%D9%8A%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D...