LONDON, 15 September, 2016 (Amnesty International): Video footage and satellite images showing makeshift grave sites and burial mounds offer a rare glimpse inside a desert no man’s land between Jordan and Syria where tens of thousands of refugees who have been virtually cut off from humanitarian aid for two months are stranded, said Amnesty International.
The video footage was obtained from Tribal Council of Palmyra and Badia, which has a network of activists operating inside the area known as the berm, and independently verified using satellite imagery.
Fresh accounts gathered by the organization, paint a desperate picture of human suffering and highlight the tragic consequences of the world’s failure to share responsibility for the global refugee crisis. Next week, world leaders will gather in New York for two high-level summits to discuss refugees.
“The situation at the berm offers a grim snapshot of the consequences of the world’s abject failure to share responsibility for the global refugee crisis. The knock on effect of this failure has seen many of Syria’s neighbours close their borders to refugees,” said Tirana Hassan, Crisis Response Director at Amnesty International.
“It’s a desperate picture for people trapped at the berm, food is running out and disease is rife. In some cases people are suffering or even dying from preventable illnesses, simply because they are not allowed into Jordan and the authorities have blocked access for aid, medical treatment and a meaningful humanitarian response.”
Syria’s neighbours, including Jordan which is hosting 650,000 refugees, have taken in the vast majority of people fleeing the conflict, severely straining their resources.
Ahead of the two summits next week Amnesty International is calling on world leaders to move beyond rhetoric and make concrete commitments to welcome their fair share of refugees, relieving the pressure on countries which are hosting large numbers of refugees.
The organization is also calling on Jordan to grant immediate entry to refugees at the berm.
Starvation, sickness and death
Humanitarian assistance to the berm, which was already limited before, stopped completely when the Jordanian authorities sealed off the Rukban and Hadalat border crossings after a deadly attack killed seven border guards on 21 June.
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Since then, only one delivery of food aid was made in early August to more than 75,000 people stranded there. Aid agencies are barred by the Jordanian authorities from accessing the no man’s land area and were forced to drop supplies over the sandy ridge (berm) using cranes.
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