Finland to offer sanctuary to 50 Palestinians fleeing Iraq
Refugees live in desert, depending on aid from UN, Hamas
Finland is planning to offer asylum to 50 Palestinian refugees living in very difficult conditions in desert camps on the border between Iraq and Syria.
Conditions at the camps is a cause for concern both for the UNHCR and the European Union, as well as various non-governmental organisations.
The Palestinians in question first started arriving in Iraq as refugees in 1948. Some are now second, and third-generation refugees.
The Palestinians lost their relatively secure position in Iraq when Saddam Hussein was toppled.
Amnesty International has said that since Saddam’s overthrow, Palestinians have faced intimidation, arrest, abduction, torture and murder. Many armed groups have taken them as targets.
Thousands of Palestinians have fled from the interior of Iraq to the border area. People have been living in the camps that have been set up there for a couple of years now.
The other Nordic Countries, as well as France, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, the United States, Canada, Australia, and some other countries have agreed to give sanctuary to the Palestinians.
The Ministry of the Interior has not yet decided officially if Finland will be taking the Iraqi Palestinian refugees, but Finnish officials have been discussing the matter with the UNHCR.
The negotiators agreed that Finland would include 50 people from the al-Tarif refugee camp as part of its annual refugee quota. The camp is located in a no-man's land in the border area between Iraq and Syria.
Arja Kekkonen, an official at the Finnish Ministry of the Interior, visited the camp in November, along with a number of other representatives of EU countries.
“I have never seen such subhuman conditions in any refugee camps before. Experienced civil servants of other countries felt the same way”, Kekkonen recalls.
Those living in the camp have no shelter except their tents. In the summer, the temperature in the desert can exceed 50 degrees Celsius. In the winter it can be freezing.
In November there were 800 people in the camp, more than 300 of whom were children.
“These people have no work and are humiliated and trapped in their tents. In Iraq their lives are in danger, and the neighbouring countries do not want to take any more Palestinians”, Kekkonen says.
The malnourished get food aid to the desert from both the UNHCR and Hamas.
“An older gentleman asked us if we would accept bread offered by Hamas if our children were hungry. In a situation like that people cannot afford to choose who gives aid”, Kekkonen points out.
Finland has not included Palestinians in its refugee quota before, with the exception of some random individuals.
A ministerial working group on immigration policy will discuss the selection of Finland’s quota refugees in February. After that, the ministry will decide on which countries’ refugees will be taken this year.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 19.1.2009 - TODAY |
 Finland to offer sanctuary to 50 Palestinians fleeing Iraq |
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