Future of Yarmouk unclear as PLO abandons aid convoy to besieged refugee camp

This week a horrific scene unfolded in Syria as a besieged Palestinian refugee camp fell under attack by ISIS and al-Nusra Front, another extremist Salafi group. When the fighters gained control of Yarmouk in Damascus, harrowing reports circulated of ISIS’s iconic beheadings and executions. This time it was Palestinian refugees who were victim and amid the chaos 18,000 Palestinians and Syrians were stranded and starving behind ISIS sharpshooters. In response, Palestinian leaders in the West Bank announced they were planning to coordinate a major convoy that would truck humanitarian aid inside of Yarmouk. Then yesterday, the Palestinian officials reversed their decision.

PLO spokesperson Ashraf Khatib told Mondoweiss it will no longer seek to distribute emergency relief inside Yarmouk. Instead a mission sent to Syria will work to secure a safe zone outside the camp’s immediate vicinity to aid Palestinians. While leaders in Ramallah are not telling refugees to flee and hope others will aid them inside the camp, the spokesperson noted, “Because the situation is getting worse the idea is not only to get the food in, but to get the people out.” As a result, when the supplies arrive refugees will be faced with the choice of abandoning Yarmouk in order to get aid.

The PLO has not set a specific location or timetable for the relief effort yet. This will be the first time the PLO will contribute to Yarmouk’s residents since the conflict in Syria broke out in spring 2011.

“We want to bring assistance to the camp, but at the same time we can’t when people have taken over the camp,” Khatib told Mondoweiss. “The PLO delegation in Syria now is trying to find the means to protect the remaining people in the camp to avoid any bloodshed. As you know, the camp itself is under a huge chaos. The extremists are from different groups, even we don’t know exactly who are these groups,” said Khatib. The spokesperson added that the PLO decided to intervene now on humanitarian grounds, but ultimately Yarmouk is under the “responsibility of the international community, the United Nations, to find protection mechanism.”

Still one local non-government organization is able to move supplies into the hands of Yarmouk’s last residents. “I’m not sure what the PLO is doing, but I know what we are doing,” said Nina, a spokesperson with the Syria-based Jafra Foundation, when asked about the PLO’s switch (Nina requested that we do not publish her last name). Jafra is one of only two groups that managed to get relief into Yarmouk since the ISIS incursion began (we published their timeline of updates earlier this week).

Over the past few days Jafra has delivered 700 food baskets to an aid station south of the camp. Although Jafra has stopped entering Yarmouk, some residents continue to slip past ISIS snipers perched on rooftops to receive aid. It is dangerous, though. Nina said a 13-year old was shot on Tuesday on her way out of the camp.

“Of course we hope the PLO takes some action,” Nina added.

Yarmouk was founded in 1957 to house Palestinians who fled or were expelled in 1948 during Israel’s war of independence, or the Palestinian nakba, the “catastrophe” that marked the beginning of the Palestinian refugee crisis. In its heyday Yarmouk was more of a cultural pocket inside Damascus than a temporary shelter for Palestinians in exile. The 150,000 who lived there (the pre-war population) could work and attend university as if they were citizens. Bashar al-Assad even allowed a Palestinian militia to carry light weapons. It was a far cry from the treatment refugees endured in ghettoized enclaves in Lebanon and Jordan, or in Kuwait where all Palestinians were expelled during the 1991 Gulf War. The relative freedom in Yarmouk earned it a reputation as a hub for armed resistance, and the capital of the Palestinian diaspora.

Flash forward to today there is no electricity. Starvation is rampant. People have resorted to eating grass and stray cats. None of the hospitals are open. Over the past week 800 families have fled to Jafra’s shelter south of Damascus. In January and February of this year, more than 150 died from hunger and the lack of medical care.

Even before ISIS militants entered Yarmouk, the camp was already a disaster. For the past two and a half years Yarmouk has been under siege by forces aligned with embattled President Bashar al-Assad. During the first few months of blockade the bravest and most desperate illicitly transported in emergency goods using their knowledge of the streets and the cover of night to duck armed groups.

Since 2013 official humanitarian operations entered Yarmouk just a handful of times. The last food parcels came in late March. The United Nations spearheaded a broad international effort. It secured a safe passage commitment from all groups clashing. Even those aligned with the Syrian regime approved the emergency run. Now that ISIS is in the mix that kind of agreement seems impossible.

There is a glimmer of hope, though. After ISIS’s initial surprise pre-dawn raid, scores from Yarmouk volunteered with the Palestinian militia in the camp. Within 24 hours they gained back 80% of the ground overrun by ISIS. Moreover, the body count is in Yarmouk’s favor. Although unconfirmed, Jafra estimates the Palestinian faction killed 70 ISIS fighters compared to losing five of their own. Yet ISIS has more resources. Jafra reported ISIS units are comprised of local Syrian fighters who profit from ISIS’s supply ring. “It’s not where the fighters are coming from, it’s where the money is coming from,” said Nina.

What the future holds for Yarmouk is unclear, but Nina affirms residents are telling her organization they want to stay in Yarmouk. Their hope is that they can fight off ISIS, rather than being forced from their homes.