Palestinians face hurdles in leaving Syria

Gaza: Since the unrest in Syria, most of the residents of other countries have managed to leave the Syrian territories except for the Palestinians there, who as usual face problems in leaving the country.

Despite few politicians, particularly from Hamas movement, managed to flee Syria to Gaza strip, most of the Palestinians couldn’t return from Syria because of the security reasons.

Most Palestinians in Syria are considered refugees living at Al Yarmouk refugee camp since the 1948.

Almost none of these refugees have Palestinian passports or an Israeli ID which is considered a must to enter Gaza Strip or the West Bank.

According to the Oslo agreement, only the Palestinians who were in the Palestinian territories after the 1967 Israeli invasion of Gaza Strip and the West Bank are allowed to have Palestinian passports and stay as residents in the Palestinian territories.

Maher Zaqout from Alo Mezan for human rights said: “The Palestinians have always suffered when a country in the region faces unrest since they are the only nationality who cannot move freely and leave the country which faces internal problems.”

The Palestinians face hard time whenever a war or conflict erupt in a country in the region such as the war in Libya and the unrest in Yemen and Iraq since most of the Palestinians get stuck in these countries and cannot flee to their motherland like other citizens.

Some of Palestinians who manage to leave the unrest territories might end up in other countries as refugees or remain on the boarders between countries like what had happened last year during the unrest in Libya and Egypt.

Zaqout added: “The Palestinians are facing huge obstacles because of the rules and regulations when entering their country. Though in the same time, the hosting or the surrounding Arab countries don’t provide any relief or help at all. “

Thousands of Palestinians in Gaza are extremely worried about their family members who are living in Syria since they cannot come to Gaza and face problems in communicating with them.

One of them is Khalid Abu Habil, who previously served in the Syrian army. Living nowadays in Gaza strip, his wife and 9 daughters are still in Syria.