Plight of Palestinians in Syria "worse than the Nakba"

A senior PLO official has claimed that the plight of Palestinians in Syria is “worse than the Nakba in 1948”. Zakaria Al-Agha, is a member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation Executive Committee and head of its department of refugee affairs.

He said on Wednesday that 350,000 Palestinian refugees living in camps in Syria have been displaced, out of a total of 450,000 refugees registered with the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).

According to Al-Agha, the conflict in Syria has resulted in more than 1,500 Palestinians being killed, hundreds more wounded and 1,000 detained by the regime. “This is worse than 1948,” he insisted, “because then there were Arab countries ready to help the refugees; this is happening in an Arab country.”

The PLO, he added, is working to create the right conditions for the refugees to return to the camps in Syria, which requires the cessation of all armed activity in and around them. There are 12 Palestinian refugee camps run by the UN in Syria.