Palestinian refugees' conditions worsen

GENEVA, Switzerland, June 26 (UPI) -- The situation is getting worse for more than 1,400 Palestinian refugees who fled Iraq and are now stranded in a makeshift camp in the middle of the desert.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said Tuesday the situation of the camp on the Iraq-Syria border is deteriorating every day, adding there is an urgent need for medical care and an immediate humanitarian solution.

It identified four children and one young man in serious condition at al-Waleed camp on the Iraqi side of the border, saying the UNHCR and the International Red Cross are trying to provide medical care. "But this is impossible in the snake- and scorpion-infested border camp without access to proper water, sanitation, care and shelter," the agency said in a statement.

The security situation at the camp is also rapidly deteriorating in the area, it warned, as local armed men have threatened the refugees, who are "increasingly scared and frustrated, trapped in the middle of nowhere and unable to understand why nobody or no country can help them or give them access to safety." And none of them want to return to Baghdad.

Making matters worse are temperatures as high as 122 F and sandstorms in a camp where there is little shade, it said, while various international agencies "have been threatened by local Iraqis and at times blocked from providing assistance to the trapped Palestinians."

After U.S.-led forces toppled Saddam Hussein's regime in April 2003, many Palestinians fled the country, escaping acts of violent vengeance from groups angered by the privileges that Saddam provided the Palestinian refugees in his country.

The agency said that around 15,000 Palestinians remain in Iraq, less than half of the estimated figure in 2003. "UNHCR has repeatedly called for international support for the Palestinians but with few results. We continue to strongly urge the Iraqi authorities and multinational forces to provide protection to the extent possible to the Palestinian community in Baghdad and at the Iraq-Syria border," it said.