3 August 2016
This week, rescue workers operating in the Mediterranean issued a stark warning that the refugee crisis is deepening, and that more people are dying on the perilous route to Europe than ever before. Many of these people are fleeing the horrors of the war in Syria, leaving their homes and families in desperate search of safety.
Recently MAP’s Campaigns Team travelled to Lebanon. We recorded testimonies of Palestinian families who have fled from Syria, and learnt why increasing numbers are choosing to risk their lives to reach Europe.
These twice-displaced refugees told us of the hardships they face in Lebanon’s Palestinian camps. They struggle to access essential healthcare and education opportunities for their children, with UNRWA services stretched by the increased demands and the organisation’s ongoing financial shortfalls. Palestinians are also banned from working in many professions in Lebanon, leaving families unable to cover their basic needs.
One woman told us that her house in Daraa, south of Damascus, had been destroyed in the war in 2012. Her family escaped to Lebanon, where they have struggled to get by on the meagre humanitarian aid they can access. As well as her own five children, she also cares for her husband’s brother’s young daughter, who has severe burns after her house was also destroyed and her family killed.
Nine months ago, unable to find work, her husband left for Europe in search of a better life for his family. In order to get there, he returned to Syria and journeyed through ISIS-held territory to enter Turkey, walking through the desert for three days on the route. When he then tried to cross the Mediterranean from Turkey his boat capsized, killing everyone aboard except him.
Now he is safely in Germany, the family can only wait to see if they will be able to join him there.
No safe route
Vulnerable Syrians are already able to apply for schemes which will allow them to resettle – safely – in Europe, with the UK government promising to take 20,000 such people by 2020. Over 100,000 Palestinians have also fled the war; however these people are currently excluded from the UK’s resettlement scheme.
The war in Syria shows no sign of ending soon, and these refugees continue to be denied their right to return to their families’ homes in Palestine. Without access to safe, government-sponsored resettlement even for those most urgently in need of protection, and facing poverty and a total lack of opportunity for a better life in Lebanon, it is little wonder that so many Palestinians have chosen to brave ISIS held territory and the often-deadly Mediterranean crossing for the chance of a better life.
The UK must do more
If the UK government wishes to put an end to the images of bodies washing up on Europe’s shores, it can start by ensuring that some of the most vulnerable refugees – including Palestinians from Syria – have opportunities for safe routes to resettlement and protection in Britain. This is particularly vital for those in need of medical care who are unable to receive treatment in Lebanon.
By increasing support to UNRWA and NGOs in Lebanon, and urging other countries to do the same, the UK government can also ensure that such people are also able to live dignified, healthy lives until they can return home.
In September, the world’s governments – including the UK – will meet at the UN in New York to decide how to respond to the current crisis. MAP believes that Palestinians must not be forgotten from this discussion.
If you agree, please join our campaign and sign our petition today.
Featured image: Refugees from Syria and Iraq getting off a boat from Turkey on the Greek island of Lesbos. (Photo: Georgios Giannopoulos)