UN relief workers resume work in Syrian Yarmouk camp

UN relief workers resume work in Syrian Yarmouk camp
Wed Mar 19, 2014 09:47:13

The UN relief workers have resumed distribution of aid at the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk in the Syrian capital Damascus after a two-week halt.

Chris Gunness, the spokesman for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), said on Tuesday that the aid workers have distributed 465 food parcels, as well as 2,000 doses of polio vaccines and 800 small cartons of baby formula in the camp.

The UN chief, however, said the food supplies distributed in the camp do not meet the needs of the people living there.

"Set against the substantial civilian needs and the protracted closure of Yarmuk, the modest supplies we have taken in are not enough," Gunness said.

He further called on all concerned parties to help “ensure the establishment and maintenance of conditions that facilitate full access to Yarmuk.”

On March 2, Gunness reported that food distribution was disrupted in the camp, saying, "Bad news: looks like there were no UNRWA food distributions today in the besieged Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk."

Reports on the same day said that foreign-backed militants occupying the camp have violated a ceasefire reached with the Syrian government and Palestinians, making the situation difficult for the Yarmouk residents who are in dire need of food and medical supplies.

Khaled Jibreel, with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC), told Press TV that militants have entered “our sites and expelled our fighters.”

“The agreement was violated,” Jibreel added. The truce had taken hold on February 10 in the refugee camp.

Large numbers of armed groups, affiliated to al-Qaeda and the so-called Free Syrian Army, are reportedly fortified in the camp.

On January 13, foreign-backed militants operating inside Syria opened fire on a convoy of UN vehicles carrying tons of food supplies to the people inside the camp.

Yarmouk houses thousands of people, who have been experiencing hard times since foreign-backed militants took control of the camp.

BA/BA

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