{"id":208476,"date":"2015-01-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-12T19:34:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?p=208476"},"modified":"2019-03-12T19:34:59","modified_gmt":"2019-03-12T19:34:59","slug":"auto-insert-208476","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/auto-insert-208476\/","title":{"rendered":"Syria Regional Crisis Response Update 83 – UNRWA report"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SYRIA REGIONAL CRISIS RESPONSE UPDATE 83<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n 22 January 2015 I issue 83<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n More than half a million Palestine refugees are directly affected by the conflict in Syria. The UNRWA response aims to preserve refugees' resilience through the continuation of UNRWA services and humanitarian assistance. For a more detailed overview, see the Agency's 2015 Syria regional crisis response <\/span>here<\/u><\/a>. This monthly update covers UNRWA efforts in December 2014.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n HIGHLIGHTS <\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n The last successful UNRWA distribution mission to Yarmouk was on 6 December. Since then, distribution has been prevented due to a serious escalation in armed conflict, including heavy exchanges of fire and the use of heavy weapons. The deterioration of security in Yarmouk mirrors an intensification of fighting across Syria. Only 636 food parcels were distributed throughout December, a fraction of the 400 reqACuired daily to sustain the 18,000 civilians still trapped in Yarmouk. UNRWA monitors the security situation in Yarmouk closely, stands ready to resume distribution and continually requests relevant authorities to facilitate humanitarian assistance. To keep up to date with the situation in Yarmouk, please <\/span>click here<\/span><\/a>.<\/span> <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n Accompanying this update is a photo from Yarmouk that won the UNRWA\/EU photograph competition. The winning photographer, 23-year-old Niraz Saied from Yarmouk, captured the anguish of three siblings waiting for a medical evacuation. In his words: “You can’t find a complete family in the refugee camp. I used to feel that in every portrait of a Palestinian family you could see the shadow of a person missing." The competition theme 'I Am Not a Statistic', called on participants to capture the stories and emotions behind news headlines, making personal the numbers of Palestinians killed, wounded and displaced by conflicts throughout the region.<\/p><\/div>\n The 2015 UNRWA appeal for the Syria regional crisis was published on 18 December. In it, UNRWA estimates that in 2015, 95 per cent of the 480,000 Palestine refugees remaining in Syria are in continuous need of humanitarian aid. "In the midst of the countless human tragedies unfolding in the country, the plight of the Palestine refugee community must not be underestimated or forgotten,” said UNRWA Deputy Commissioner-General, Margot Ellis. “There is no substitute to a political solution to the conflict, not only in Syria, but also for Palestine itself. But until that day comes, we need to make sure no Palestine refugee feels left behind or forgotten.” The appeal outlines the need for $415.4 million to meet the minimum needs of Palestine refugees suffering profound hardship as a result of the conflict in Syria, in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.<\/p><\/div>\n At the end of the year, only 53 per cent of the 2014 UNRWA appeal was funded and UNRWA had to reduce individual assistance to continue serving all those in need. If funding levels continue to decline, critical efforts in emergency education and health care will cease, and cash assistance – the central pillar of the UNRWA humanitarian response – will be threatened. Decades of development gains made possible by the international community are in danger of being lost. A report on the 2014 response will be published in April.<\/p><\/div>\n REGIONAL OVERVIEW <\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n Of the 17 United Nations staff killed in Syria as a result of the conflict, 14 are UNRWA staff. Twenty-eight UNRWA staff are currently detained or missing and 26 others have been injured during the course of the conflict. <\/p><\/div>\n Displacement<\/span>. <\/span>Of approximately 560,000 Palestine refugees registered with UNRWA in Syria, over 50 per cent are estimated to have been displaced within Syria, with a further 12 per cent to neighbouring countries. In Lebanon, 44,000 Palestine refugees from Syria have been recorded with UNRWA; in Jordan close to 15,000 and in Gaza around1,000 people have approached UNRWA for assistance. The Agency also received reports of around 4,000 Palestine refugees in Egypt and smaller numbers in Libya, Turkey and East Asia. <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n Funding<\/span>. <\/span>On 31 December, the total pledged amount against the 2014 Response Plan stood at US$222.7 million, including US$33.6 million pledged in 2013 for implementation in 2014. This is equivalent to 53.3 per cent of the total budget of the 2014 Syria regional crisis response required for January-December 2014 (US$417 million). The 2015 appeal outlines the need for US$415.4 million to meet the minimum needs of Palestine refugees suffering as a result of the conflict in Syria.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n Inter-agency<\/span>. <\/span>On 18 December in Berlin, humanitarian actors active in Syria and neighbouring countries launched the Syria Response Plan (SRP) and the Refugee Resilience Response Plan (3RP), which includes the UNRWA appeal covering the Agency's response in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. The 3RP can be found on <\/span>www.3rpsyriacrisis.org<\/u><\/a> and the SRP <\/span>here<\/u><\/a> (PDF).<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n Media<\/span>. <\/span>In December, media profiled the vulnerability of Palestine refugees caused by multigenerational statelessness, double displacement and the feeling of being unwelcome in neighbouring countries. In the second half of the month, the focus shifted to refugees in Lebanon (including Palestine refugees from Syria) and on the impact of the cold weather on children and the elderly in the Beka’a Valley. Articles reported on Lebanese resentment of the influx of Syrian and Palestine refugees who are increasingly blamed for the economic and political insecurity in the country.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n SYRIA<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n Approximately 560,000 Palestine refugees are registered in Syria. Of these, around 280,000 have been displaced inside Syria and over 80,000 to other countries. Thirty-seven UNRWA-managed installations across Syria house 12,679 internally displaced persons, of whom 23 per cent are Syrian.<\/p><\/div>\n Yarmouk<\/span>. <\/span>In December, only 636 food parcels, 635 hygiene kits and 629 jerry cans of drinkable water were distributed. The last successful distribution was on 6 December, after which only three missions were attempted (on 11, 12 and 25 December) each time interrupted by clashes. The temporary health point set up during distributions was able to treat 280 patients and 4,000 polio vaccines doses were provided. Approximately 400 food parcels are required each day to meet the minimum food needs of this extremely vulnerable population. In 2014, on days when all concerned actors cooperated fully to give priority to meeting the food needs of civilians in Yarmouk, UNRWA was capable of distributing up to 1,000 food parcels per day. To stop the suffering of Yarmouk’s civilians, UNRWA calls for this level of cooperation to resume, for the immediate cessation of armed hostilities in and around Yarmouk, and for all concerned parties to act in ways that promote the protection of Yarmouk’s civilians and give the utmost priority to their humanitarian needs.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n \n