What's keeping Syria’s Palestinian refugees from returning to camps?
The Palestinian refugees in Syria are still waiting for the green light to go back to their camps following a wave of displacement that resulted from clashes between the Syrian regime and gunmen.
RAMALLAH, West Bank — The situation of Palestinians displaced from their refugee camps in Syria remains complex. Some progress toward returning them to their homes in the camps has been noted, even as other efforts have stalled.
These are refugees driven from their homes in camps by the Syrian civil war. Many are second-time refugees, having ended up in Syria in the first place because they were displaced from the West Bank after the 1967 war with Israel.
During an April 16 meeting, the PLO factions in Syria welcomed news that Sabina camp residents might be able to return in the near future, pending further negotiations with militants in the area. The factions also praised the government's measures to allow movement in and out of the Khan al-Shih camp, and for the government’s ongoing negotiations with gunmen to get them to leave the Yarmouk camp. The Yarmouk talks have been particularly complicated by many factors.
According to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the Sabina refugee camp, just south of Damascus, was home to more than 21,000 registered Palestinians who were displaced from the West Bank following the 1967 war. The camp, however, was completely emptied of its residents following clashes that erupted in late 2012 between insurgents and the Syrian army. The latter regained control of the camp in November 2013.
