Delivering vital assistance and services to Palestine refugees in Syria remains a major challenge for UNRWA.
During 2016, the conflict in Syria has continued with intensity and unpredictability, resulting in further loss of civilian life and material destruction. Of the estimated 450,000 Palestine refugees that remain inside Syria, over 95 per cent (430,000) are in critical need of sustained humanitarian assistance in order to survive. Almost 280,000 are internally displaced, and an estimated 43,000 are trapped in hard-to-reach or inaccessible locations such as Yarmouk, Khan Eshieh, and Muzeireb and Jillin in Dera’a.
Over 120,000 Palestinian refugees from Syria (PRS) have fled the country, including around 31,000 to Lebanon and 16,000 to Jordan.
In 2017, UNRWA requires US$ 411 million for its humanitarian response to the Syria crisis, centred on preserving resilience through the provision of humanitarian assistance, providing a protective framework for Palestine refugees by maintaining access to basic services and promoting respect for international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law (IHRL), and strengthening humanitarian capacity, coordination and management to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of emergency programme delivery.
