Most of the over 300 Palestinian-Iraqi refugees stranded for the past 18 months at the makeshift al-Tanf refugee camp on the Syrian side of the Iraq-Syria border have rejected an offer of asylum in Sudan.
The Sudanese government made an offer 8 October to take in the 310 Palestinian refugees, who are living in pitiful conditions at the camp.
“The [Sudanese] president agreed to the request of both Hamas and Fatah to accommodate them and we are going to inform the Arab League and then make our preparations," said a Sudanese Foreign Ministry official.
The proposal, the first official offer of relocation for refugees at al-Tanf camp received by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) despite months of talks, was rejected by most of the al-Tanf refugees.
One of them, Ahmad Hassan, told IRIN that a camp meeting was held on 8 October to discuss the offer: “Out of 84 families just 30 want to go to Sudan.”
“Too risky”
“They think Sudan is too risky and that after a few months there may be a war there. They want to go somewhere safe where they can work and live in peace,” he said.
The UNHCR confirmed that the Sudanese offer had been made but pointed out that no agreement had been reached.
 They think Sudan is too risky and that after a few months there may be a war there. They want to go somewhere safe where they can work and live in peace. |
The UNHCR rejected the suggestion that Sudan - a country where four years of civil war in Darfur has displaced 2.5 million people - might be an unsuitable resettlement country.
“If Sudan can be a relocation country and a safe place for these refugees, why not consider the option?” said Al-Achi. Violence is largely restricted to southern and western Sudan and Khartoum, where the refugees could go, is peaceful.
According to reports, a final decision on relocation will rest with the refugees themselves.
“Ultimately it is up to the refugees to accept it or not. Hamas has initiated contact with them to see who wants to leave. There is also coordination with Syria and an envoy of President Bashir [of Sudan] has been to Damascus,” Izzat al-Rishq, a Hamas official, told Reuters.
The Palestinians at al-Tanf camp have been effectively detained by Syria after fleeing violence in Iraq. The Syrian authorities have refused them entry as they say they are already struggling to cope with the estimated 1.5 million Iraqi refugees in the country
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This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
