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First UNRWA Convoy in Two Years Reaches Palestine Refugees in the Damascus Suburb of Yalda

21 June 2018

Last week, UNRWA was able to enter Yalda to provide humanitarian assistance to Palestine refugees and vulnerable Syrians who were displaced from neighbouring Yarmouk camp after violence intensified in April 2018. UNRWA sent an eighteen truck convoy to provide food, blankets, mattresses and hygiene kits. Two mobile clinics also treated hundreds of patients. On three occasions between 4-10th of June 2018, UNRWA served some 1,300 families.

This marked the first time UNRWA was able to provide assistance for families in the area in two years. UNRWA had been unable to access Yalda since May 2016 and has not been able to reach Yarmouk refugee camp since 2015.

"These refugees had already suffered untold hardship because of years of besiegement and hostilities and then late April, intensified fighting in Yarmouk further destroyed many homes, displacing thousands,” said Mr. Mohamed Abdi Adar, Director of UNRWA Affairs in Syria. “The trauma of war, combined with fear and desperation, have taken an enormous toll, particularly on children. This assistance will give them a lifeline and help meet their urgent humanitarian needs. But more must be done in the long term.”

UNRWA trucks being loaded at the UNRWA Syria Field Office compound ahead of a convoy to Yalda. On 5 June, UNRWA managed to access Yalda for the first time in two years. © UNRWA 2018 Photo by Iyad FaouriFood boxes being packed for the convoy to aid Palestine refugees who fled from Yarmouk to Yalda. Palestine refugees were provided with ready to eat food baskets. Between 4-10 June, UNRWA distributed food baskets to more than 750 families. © UNRWA 2018 Photo by Iyad FaouriDeputy Director of UNRWA Affairs Michael Amanya flags off the convoy to Yalda. © UNRWA 2018 Photo by Iyad FaouriOverview of UNRWA distribution site in Yalda. Through these convoys, UNRWA has distributed almost 2,350 sets of blankets, mattresses, jerry cans and mats. © UNRWA 2018 Photo by Anita ThammA Palestine refugee from Yarmouk receives mattresses for his family at a distribution point in Yalda. © UNRWA 2018 Photo by Iyad FaouriPatients line up for appointments with an UNRWA mobile health clinic in Yalda. © UNRWA 2018 Photo by Laura SunnenAsma’a Yousef stayed in Yarmouk and only left once, to give birth to her son Hadi, in 2013. Soon after, they lived under siege. Her husband’s electronics shop was burgled, and Asma became sole breadwinner, giving private tutoring lessons to students. © UNRWA 2018 Photo by Iyad FaouriAsma’s house was destroyed, so she moved to her parent’s home. Both her father and mother died of malnutrition and lack of medical care during the siege of Yarmouk. She finally left when fighting intensified in April 2018. When she returned to the camp to see her parents’ house last week, she was shell shocked; the house had been demolished and looted. This was especially painful because for Asma’a, memories disappeared with it. “I loved my family’s house,” she says. © UNRWA 2018 Photo by Iyad FaouriFirst UNRWA convoy in Two Years Reaches Palestine refugees in the Damascus suburb of YaldaUNRWA provided Ratiba al-Jaafari, 80 years-old with a wheelchair. She is from Yarmouk, and can think of only one thing: going home. “The situation is overwhelming. Our lives are threatened, we need to find a place to live since our homes have been destroyed. We do not have money to rebuild our homes in the camp. Yarmouk camp is my soul. We built our home with our bare hands.” © UNRWA 2018 Photo by Iyad FaouriHelmi Ahmad Mahmoud (55) has not been able to see his family; his wife, daughters and son, since they fled Yarmouk in 2012. He stayed behind and suffered under the siege. “We had to eat local herbs boiled with spices.” His mobile phone has become his most valued possession; it allows him to stay in touch with his family, who are now in Qabr Essit camp. The family relies on UNRWA cash assistance to survive. “We live in poverty and struggle to make ends meet. We have adapted and gotten used to hardship.” © UN

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