120,000 Palestinian refugees flee Syria during war: UN

Damascus: Nearly 120,000 Palestinian refugees have left Syria as a result of the long-lasting war, the head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees said on Thursday.

Before the war, there were 560,000 Palestinian refugees in Syria, but as the war continued, between 110,000 to 120,000 left the country, said Pierre Krahenbuhl, the commissioner general of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Xinhua reported.

Krahenbuhl said 45,000 Palestinians had left Syria for Lebanon, 15,000 for Jordan, half of the overall number for Europe via Turkey, and the rest for countries in Asia and Latin America.

Regarding the UNRWA efforts, Krahenbuhl said the situation of the people in the Palestinian camp of Yarmouk, south of Damascus, is still desperate, noting that the aid efforts to Palestinian refugees in areas near Yarmouk have recently improved.

He noted that the UNRWA has concentrated on giving aid to the neighbourhoods near Yarmouk camp.

The Yarmouk camp is a large district in southern Damascus. It has recently become a stage of intense battles between the Al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front and the Islamic State group.