IRAQ-SYRIA: Some 40 stranded Palestinian refugees resettled in Chile

Almost half the refugees at al-Tanf are under 18 years of age, many of whom have developed asthma as a result of the desert conditions and suffer from high fever, diarrhoea and vomiting


DAMASCUS, 7 April 2008 (IRIN) - Thirty nine Palestinian refugees from Iraq - stuck at al-Tanf refugee camp in no-man’s land on the Iraq-Syria border - have been resettled in Chile.

“Until last year it felt like the doors were closed for moving the Palestinian refugees. The desert conditions at al-Tanf are extremely inappropriate for the refugees to live in. Finally a window of opportunity opened with Chile,” said Laurens Jolles, head of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Syria.


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