Showing posts with label Palestinian refugee camp. Show all posts

Sunday, November 26, 2017

From Palestinian refugee camp to London, Paris, Dubai boutiques

27 November 2017 - 05H20 GMT/UTC/ZULU TIME

by Leila Mohamed and Biodun Iginla, France24, JERASH CAMP (JORDAN)

JERASH CAMP (JORDAN) -

In a small workshop in a Palestinian refugee camp in Jordan, Halima al-Ankassuri embroiders traditional patterns onto a blue shawl, destined for sale in an upmarket Paris, London or Dubai boutique.

The 54-year-old mother of seven describes her work as "modern products with shimmering colours, embroidered with Palestinian and Islamic motifs".

"I'm proud to see Europeans wearing what we produce here and to see top fashion magazines take an interest," she said referring to the German online edition of Vogue, a large smile on her face, girded with a red veil.

The Jerash camp where she lives, in northern Jordan, was established to host more than 11,000 Palestinians who fled the Gaza Strip during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war -- hence its alternative name, Gaza Camp.

Half a century on, more than 29,000 refugees live in the camp amid poverty, unemployment and crumbling infrastructure.

In 2013, Roberta Ventura, an Italian with a background in investment banking, decided to set up a social project to help women in the camp after visiting it and seeing their intricate skills close up.

SEP Jordan (SEP for social enterprise project) aims to "change lives not only of dozens but over time, hundreds, perhaps thousands of women", she wrote in a message to AFP.

On the workshop's tables lay traditional keffiyeh chequered headscarves with inscriptions of different colours, along with cashmere shawls and handbags.

"The project started with 10 women and now they are 300," said the programme's director, Nawal Aradah. "We make products on request: shawls, handbags, towels, sheets and all kinds of household decor."

Every two months, 11 to 14 cartons containing 190 to 270 kilogrammes (420 to 600 pounds) of goods are sent to stores in Paris, London or Dubai.

They are also sold inside the Palestinian territories -- in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, said the project's regional manager, Mahmoud al-Haj.

In a shop inside a large Amman hotel, prices range from 20 to 300 dinars ($30 to $430, 25 to 362 euros), according to Haj, who said "most buyers are foreign tourists".

- Source of income -

For women in the workshop, embroidery is an important source of income.

"We all suffer from poverty in this camp," Ankassuri said. "This work helps us to improve our lives, even if we charge for our products individually at low prices, from 15 to 20 dinars."

Every product she embroiders requires at least a week's work.

She says she has pain in her hands, but enjoys being around other women in the workshop.

Ventura said the women's "unique talent" is "appreciated around the world".

More than two million Palestinian refugees are registered with the United Nations in Jordan, but about half of the country's 6.6 million population is of Palestinian origin.

Ankassuri and her colleagues learned the art of embroidery from their mothers and grandmothers. Each region of historic Palestine has its own motifs and patterns.

As well as presenting Palestinian history and culture to a new audience, their craftwork "helps promote the cause of our people", Aradah said proudly.

A flag and a map hang on the walls of the workshop, reminding the women of their link with the land of their birth or, for the younger ones, that of their ancestors.

"Every woman here has a story," Aradah said.

"This work helps them to send their children to school, change the furniture in their homes and improve their living conditions, especially since many husbands do not work."

Hiba al-Hudari, who was weaving a blue purse with Islamic inscriptions, said the workshop had become "a second home".

The 37-year-old mother of six said she earns about 150 dinars a month. "With that, I help my husband, who's a mechanic, provide for our household," she said.

Monday, April 6, 2015

UN considers evacuating Yarmouk refugee camp in IS stronghold

by Biodun Iginla and Leila Mohamed, France24 and BBC News, New York/Beirut

© AFP | Destruction in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp near Damascus.

Latest update : 2015-04-07

The United Nations Security Council said on Monday it would look at how to help some 18,000 Palestinian refugees and Syrian civilians in a camp largely taken over by the Islamic State group, including potential evacuation measures.

Pierre Krahenbuhl, head of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), briefed U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the 15-member council about Yarmouk camp on the outskirts of Damascus, just a few miles (kilometers) from President Bashar al-Assad's palace.
"What the civilians in Yarmouk are most concerned about right now is bare survival. It's as simple and straightforward as that," Krahenbuhl told reporters via video link from Jordan.
Islamic State has taken most of Yarmouk from rival groups while the Syrian army surrounds the district, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Islamic State rules swathes of Syria and Iraq and is the target of U.S.-led air strikes.
Krahenbuhl said states with influence over warring parties should push for protection of civilians and urged the council to "think about possible measures that would facilitate an orderly and safe evacuation of those who wish to leave the camp."
"That is a highly complex undertaking in an environment that is as delicate and dangerous as Yarmouk currently, but those would be concrete steps to be looked at," he said. Krahenbuhl said UNRWA had not had any contact with Islamic State militants.
The Security Council said in a statement it would "look into further measures that can be taken to help in providing the necessary protection and assistance." It called for aid access to Yarmouk and for "safe passage and evacuation of civilians."
Yarmouk became a battleground before the siege, and has been devastated by street fighting, air attacks and shelling. The United Nations said 94 civilians had made it out on Sunday, though some 3,500 children were still trapped.
The chief Palestinian delegate at the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, appealed for international help "in any form or shape" to secure a safe evacuation route for civilians out of Yarmouk.
Yarmouk was home to half a million Palestinians before the Syrian conflict began in 2011. The war has killed 220,000 people and displaced millions of Syrians.
Krahenbuhl suggested Security Council envoys visit Yarmouk because "nothing replaces seeing a situation for oneself and having to confront the realities on the ground."

UN demands access to Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus

by Biodun Iginla and Leila Mohamed, BBC News, New York/Beirut. Biodun Iginla repoerted from New York. Leila Mohamed reported from Beirut.

3 hours ago

The UN Security Council has demanded humanitarian access to the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk in Damascus.

One UN official described the situation for the 18,000 refugees there as "beyond inhumane".
The situation has deteriorated since 1 April, when Islamic State launched an offensive.
Palestinian militiamen opposed to the Syrian government and some Free Syrian Army fighters are leading the fight against the IS militants.

'This has to stop'

The chair of the 15-member Security Council, Jordan's ambassador Dina Kawar, called for the "protection of civilians... humanitarian access... and life-saving assistance".
Delivering a report to the council, Pierre Krahenbuhl, of the Palestinian Unwra relief agency, said the situation was "more desperate than ever".

The Palestinian UN ambassador, Riyad Mansour, said that saving the refugees was his government's main priority.
He appealed to member nations to relocate the refugees elsewhere in Syria or abroad.

Analysis: Jim Muir in Beirut
Because of its strategic location, the Syrian government has always feared Yarmouk might be used as a springboard for a rebel thrust into the heart of the capital.
With some reports saying IS may now control as much as 90% of the area, that brings the militants closer than ever to the centre of Damascus.
Government helicopters are reported to have been dropping barrel bombs on Yarmouk, although rebel groups accuse the regime of encouraging the spread of Islamic State, so it can dismiss the entire rebel movement as a bunch of terrorists.

Ahmed Majdalani, an official with the Palestine Liberation Organisation, said a delegation was on its way to Damascus to discuss a humanitarian corridor with the Syrian government and Palestinian factions in the camp.

Another Unwra official, Chris Gunness, said: "The situation in the camp is beyond inhumane.
"There is no food, there is no water and there is very little medicine... People are holed up in their houses, there is fighting going on in the streets. There are reports of... bombardments. This has to stop and civilians must be evacuated."
Sunday's heavy fighting turned into sporadic clashes on Monday, monitors said.
Monitors say IS and the al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front, who have fought each other in other parts of Syria, were working together in Yarmouk.

A few hundred people were reported to have managed to escape the camp over the weekend.
Syria's bloody conflict, which has entered its fifth year, has claimed the lives of more than 200,000 Syrians.
The battle between forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, rebels opposed to his rule and Islamic State has also driven more than 11 million people from their homes.
Yarmouk was first built for Palestinians fleeing the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.
Before the Syrian civil war began, it had more than 150,000 refugees living there and had its own mosques, schools and public buildings. But since 2012, the camp has been besieged by fighting.

Sunday, April 5, 2015

Syria: Palestinians flee fighting in Yarmouk refugee camp

by Leila Mohamed and Biodun Iginla, BBC News, Beirut

4 hours ago

Civilians have fled fighting in the Palestinian refugee camp Yarmouk in Damascus, officials say.

There have been heavy clashes there since Wednesday, after Islamic State (IS) gunmen attacked the district.
The UN said that nearly 100 people escaped on Sunday. A Palestinian official said that some 300 families had managed to flee on Saturday.
Up to 18,000 refugees are still trapped inside the camp as intense fighting continues around them.

Deadly threat

Unrwa, the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees, has called for a halt in the violence to give civilians the chance to evacuate and to allow in much needed aid.
"The lives of civilians in Yarmouk have never been more profoundly threatened," the UN agency said in a statement.

Unrwa spokesman Chris Gunness told the BBC that the situation in Yarmouk was extremely difficult.
"We now have an intense armed conflict raging in the streets, people are cowering in their homes, too terrified to move," he said.
Some civilians have managed to leave. Unrwa confirmed that 94 civilians, including 43 women and 20 children, had escaped and been given humanitarian support.
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in Damascus told the BBC that hundreds more had fled from this area of Damascus over the past two days.

Major attack

A PLO spokesman said that two exits have been opened in the camp and that a rescue operation was being coordinated with the Syrian government and Palestinian factions inside Yarmouk.
Palestinian militiamen opposed to the Syrian government are thought to be leading the fight against IS militants in the camp, along with some Free Syrian Army fighters.
IS gunmen took over large areas of the camp on 1 April, in the group's first major attack near the heart of the Syrian capital.
According to Reuters news agency, IS posted photos of its fighters inside Yarmouk on Sunday.

Syria's bloody conflict, which has entered its fifth year, has claimed the lives of more than 200,000 Syrians.
The battle between forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, rebels opposed to his rule and jihadist militants from Islamic State has also driven more than 11 million people from their homes.
Yarmouk was first built for Palestinians fleeing a different conflict, the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

Trapped

Before the Syrian civil began, it had more than 150,000 refugees living there and had its own mosques, schools and public buildings.
But since 2012, the camp has been besieged by fighting between Syrian government troops and rebel forces.
Residents have little access to clean water, food supplies and electricity.
The few health facilities that there were in the camp have now also been engulfed in the conflict with IS.

Saturday, April 4, 2015

Palestinians trapped as jihadists seize most of Syria camp

04 April 2015 - 17H26

by Leila Mohamed and Biodun Iginla, France24 and BBC News

BEIRUT - Thousands of Palestinian civilians are trapped in Syria's Yarmuk camp, which is besieged by government forces and has been largely overrun by jihadist fighters, an opposition official said Saturday.
The camp in Damascus is now almost completely under the control of the Islamic State group (IS) and Al-Qaeda's local branch Al-Nusra Front, a monitoring group said.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA issued an urgent plea for humanitarian access to the area, saying the situation in Yarmuk was a "source of universal shame".
Jihadists from IS first attacked the camp, just seven kilometres (four miles) from central Damascus, on Wednesday.
They were initially repelled by Palestinian forces inside Yarmuk, but have since captured 90 percent of the sprawling area.
"The residents of the camp are between the devil and the deep blue sea," said Ayman Abu Hashem, who heads the Syrian opposition interim government's committee on Palestinian refugees.
"The camp is surrounded by the regime, and inside the forces of IS have almost completely taken over."
Abu Hashem said Palestinian forces from the Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis group, which is loyal to the Palestinian movement Hamas, were effectively encircled by the jihadists.
And he said fears were running high that IS would take revenge in the camp because members of the jihadist group were expelled by residents and fighters last year.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said jihadist forces now controlled 90 percent of Yarmuk, which was once home to 160,000 people, both Syrian and Palestinian.
Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said Al-Nusra fighters were not battling alongside IS forces, but were also not opposing the its advances.
- 18 killed -
Palestinian officials accused Al-Nusra of facilitating IS's entrance into Yarmuk, where the population has dwindled to just 18,000 residents.
Al-Nusra and IS are largely rivals, despite sharing a similar jihadist ideology, though there have been instances of local cooperation between fighters from the two movements.
Abdel Rahman said at least 18 people had been killed since the fighting in the camp began on Wednesday, six civilians and 12 Palestinian fighters.
Two fighters were beheaded, he said, and photos depicting two decapitated heads purportedly in the camp were circulated by jihadists on social media.
The Observatory also reported government air strikes on the camp, though there was no immediate information on casualties.
Yarmuk's residents have suffered through regular clashes, government shelling and a regime blockade that has caused medical and food shortages.
Syrian forces remain outside the camp, and sources said troops had set up additional checkpoints around Yarmuk after the fighting began.
An agreement last June between the government and rebels, backed by Palestinian factions, led to easing of the blockade.
But humanitarian access has remained limited and was halted completely with the jihadist advance.
On Saturday, UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness described the situation in the camp as "an affront to the humanity of all of us, a source of universal shame".
"The humanitarian actors on the ground, like UNRWA, must have immediate access to bring urgent assistance to civilians," Gunness said.
He urged "moral and diplomatic leadership from the international community" to ensure the protection of civilians.
Palestinian officials in the West Bank and Gaza also called for action, and the Syrian opposition National Coalition urged a safe passage for civilians.
The body called for "urgent intervention" from the Arab League and United Nations "to force the regime to open a safe passage for the safety of civilians".

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

IS militants 'enter Yarmouk refugee camp' in Damascus

by Leila Mohamed and Biodun Iginla, BBC News, Beirut

1 hour ago

Islamic State (IS) militants have entered the Palestinian refugee camp Yarmouk in Damascus, activists and Palestinian officials say.

Clashes erupted between the militants and groups inside the camp, with IS seizing control of large parts of the camp, reports said.
The UN says about 18,000 Palestinian refugees are inside the camp.
IS militants have seized large swathes of territory in eastern Syria and across northern and western Iraq.
But this is the group's first major attack near the heart of the Syrian capital.

IS fighters had seized control of large parts of the camp, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, and an official with the Palestine Liberation Organisation based in Damascus, said.
Yarmouk residents told BBC Arabic that members of Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis, a group formed by Palestinian militiamen opposed to the Syrian government, were leading the fight against the IS militants, along with some Free Syrian Army fighters.
Palestinian militiamen were able to retake some areas from IS later on Wednesday, residents told the BBC.
There has been no official statement from IS about the attack.

Children at risk

Unrwa, a UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees, said in a statement that the fighting would place Yarmouk's civilians, including large numbers of children, "at extreme risk of death, serious injury, trauma and displacement".
It demanded an end to the fighting and "a return to conditions that will enable its staff to support and assist Yarmouk's civilians".

Analysis: Lina Sinjab, BBC News, Beirut
Members of the self-proclaimed Islamic State stormed into the southern side of Yarmouk camp in the early hours of the morning and clashed with the Palestinian brigade, Aknaf Beit al-Maqdis.
Reports suggest they came in from the area of Hajar al-Aswad in the south of the capital.
The Palestinian Ambassador to Damascus, Anwar Abdulhadi, told the BBC that the group had seized the area of the camp near the Palestine Hospital.
Most information is coming from Palestinian officials in areas under government control.
The attack comes days before a deal to ease the humanitarian situation for civilians in the camp was set to come into operation.
Desperation in Yarmouk
Story of the Syrian conflict
What is Islamic State?

Syria's bloody conflict, which has entered its fifth year, has claimed the lives of more than 200,000 Syrians.
The battle between forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, rebels opposed to his rule and jihadist militants from Islamic State has also driven more than 11 million people from their homes.
The al-Qaeda linked al-Nusra Front captured the north-western city of Idlib from government forces on Saturday. It is only the second provincial centre to fall into rebel hands since IS seized Raqqa in March 2013.

Al-Nusra Front said on Wednesday that the city would now be ruled under Sharia, but that the group did not intend to monopolise power in the city.
Also on Wednesday, Jordan closed the Nasib border crossing, its only official crossing with Syria, due to fierce clashes between Syrian rebels and government troops.
Rebel forces were able to wrest control of the crossing from the Syrian government by Wednesday evening, reports said.
A leader of the Yarmouk Army, one of the rebel groups, said the crossing had been "liberated", Reuters reported.
A government security source also confirmed the seizure.

'Extreme hardship'

First built for Palestinians fleeing the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, Yarmouk was once considered by many to be the de facto capital of the Palestinian refugee diaspora.
Prior to the Syrian civil war, it had more than 150,000 refugees living there, and its own mosques, schools and public buildings.

However, the camp has been besieged by fighting between government troops and rebel forces since 2012.
Unrwa says about 18,000 refugees remain trapped in the camp, with inadequate access to food supplies, clean water and electricity.
In March, Unrwa said: "The extreme hardship faced by Palestine refugees in Yarmouk, but also in other locations in Syria as a result of the armed conflict is, from a human point of view, unacceptable."