Yarmouk Camp

Yarmouk (Arabic: ٱلْيَرْمُوك, ALA-LC: al-Yarmūk, IPA: [æl.jærˈmʊːk]) is a 2.11-square-kilometer (520-acre) district of the city of Damascus, populated by Palestinians. It is located 8 kilometers (5.0 mi) from the center of Damascus and within municipal boundaries; this was not the case when it was established in 1957. It contains hospitals and schools. Yarmouk is an "unofficial" refugee camp (Arabic: مُخَيَّم, ALA-LC: muḵayyam), as UNRWA rejected a Syrian government request to recognize the camp in 1960. Now depopulated, it was home to the largest Palestinian refugee community in Syria. As of June 2002, there had been 112,550 registered refugees living in Yarmouk.

During the Syrian Civil War, Yarmouk camp became the scene of intense fighting in 2012 between the Free Syrian Army and the PFLP-GC, supported by Syrian government forces. The camp was consequently taken over by various factions and deprived of supplies, resulting in hunger, disease and a high death rate, which caused many to flee.

By the end of 2014, the population had gone down to 20,000 residents. In early April 2015, most of the camp was overrun by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, sparking armed clashes with Palestinian militia Aknaf Bait al-Maqdis. At this point, the population was estimated at 18,000. After intense fighting in April/May 2018, Syrian government forces took the camp, leaving only 100–200 residents. It is estimated that 160,000 Palestinians were displaced and forced to flee Yarmouk during the Syrian civil war. Many Palestinians were concerned that the Syrian regime would redevelop the area and send the former residents to remote scrubland. In 2022, Palestinians began to return, but the population remains far from its pre-war peak.

Yarmouk was constructed in 1957 on an area of 2.11 square kilometers (0.81 sq mi) to house refugees. Though it was not officially recognized as a refugee camp, road signs leading to this sector of the city read Muḵayyam al-Yarmūk, meaning "Yarmouk refugee camp". Administratively, Yarmouk is a city (madīna) in the Damascus Governorate. So, in fact, it later became another district of Damascus.

Over time, refugees living in Yarmouk improved and expanded their housing. The district became densely populated. Two main roads, named "Yarmouk Street" and "Falasteen Street", were lined with shops and filled with service taxis and microbuses that ran through the camp. The BBC wrote that, although Yarmouk "is identified as a camp, there are no tents or slums in sight. It is a residential area with beauty salons and internet cafes".

Living conditions in Yarmouk appeared to be better than in other Palestinian refugee camps in Syria, and residents of the camp numbered many professionals—doctors, engineers and civil servants, as well as many casual laborers and street vendors.

There were four hospitals and a number of government-run secondary schools. UNRWA operated 20 elementary schools and eight preparatory schools in the camp, and sponsors two women's program centers. There were three UNRWA health care centers in Yarmouk, two of which received upgrades in 1996 with contributions from the government of Canada. In 1997, six schools were upgraded with contributions from the government of the United States, and a kindergarten was built with funds from the government of Australia. In 1998, the UNRWA was also able to construct a health center funded by the government of the Netherlands. There was another Health Center whose expertise is devoted to prevention and treatment of thalassemia. The Center was built in 2009 thanks to funds provided by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID).

During the Syrian Civil War, Yarmouk camp became the scene of intense fighting between the Free Syrian Army and its Palestinian ally Liwa al-Asifa on the one hand, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP-GC) supported by Syrian Army government forces on the other. Subsequently, the Syrian Army besieged the camp, leading to many leaving the area and causing a significant deterioration in conditions for the more than 18,000 Palestinian refugees and other Syrians remaining inside the camp, whom the UN described as living in "complete deprivation".