ATFP Briefing: Richard Wright, the Director of the UNRWA New York Representative Office will join Andrew Tabler from WINEP and ATFP's Hussein Ibish to discuss the dire situation of those Palestine Refugees trapped inside Yarmouk, including updates on recent interventions by UNRWA

UNRWA photo and film archive for Palestine refugees

email from our good friend HUSSEIN IBISH

Dear colleagues,

 

Please join us tomorrow from 1-3 PM for an ATFP event at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, to discuss the plight of Palestine Refugees in Syria, with a particular focus on the ongoing siege of the Yarmouk refugee camp. Richard Wright, the Director of the UNRWA New York Representative Office will join Andrew Tabler from WINEP and me to discuss the dire situation of those Palestine Refugees trapped inside Yarmouk, including updates on recent interventions by UNRWA.

You can RSVP for the event here: http://www.americantaskforce.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=17

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Yours, Hussein

ATFP Briefing: Yarmouk Camp Crisis

The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) will be hosting a briefing on Palestinian Refugees in Syria and the crisis at Yarmouk on Wednesday, January 22 from 1-3 PM. The event will be held in the Zenger Room at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor, Washington, DC 20045.

Panelists will include Richard Wright, the Director of the UNRWA New York Representative Office; Andrew J. Tabler, Senior Fellow at the The Washington Institute for Near East Policy; and ATFP Senior Fellow Hussein Ibish. 

January 22, 2014 
 1:00-3:00 PM

 

The National Press Club
Zenger Room
529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor
Washington, DC 20045

 

Palestinian refugees in Syria, especially at the Yarmouk refugee camp outside of Damascus, are facing a dire humanitarian crisis. 18,000 refugees are trapped in Yarmouk and there have been many reported deaths due to attacks, starvation, and lack of medicines and fuel.

On December 20, UNRWA Commissioner-General Filippo Grandi warned that "It is my responsibility to inform the international community that humanitarian conditions in the besieged refugee camp of Yarmouk are worsening dramatically and that we are currently unable to help those trapped inside. If this situation is not addressed urgently, it may be too late to save the lives of thousands of people including children."

On January 15, Secretary of State John Kerry said, "[in] Ghouta and other parts of the country, such as Yarmouk refugee camp, civilians are dying of malnutrition. That is absolutely unacceptable. If the regime can allow access to United Nations and international weapons inspectors, surely it can do the same for neutral, international humanitarian assistance.” 

This ATFP panel will examine the crisis from numerous angles, including its humanitarian and regional components, and place it in the context of international responsibilities towards the victims.

Hussein Ibish, PhD
Senior Fellow
American Task Force on Palestine
http://www.americantaskforce.org/

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