HOPING UNRWA statement for Palestinian refugees in Syria
Over 30 leading film makers, writers, artists, musicians and public figures have come together in a joint public appeal to the United Nations, asking the Presidents of the General Assembly and the Security Council to make clear what they are doing to create “local ceasefires” and “safe spaces” for all civilians in Syria. The call comes two weeks after the UN was last able to deliver food parcels to the besieged Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk in Damascus and amid mounting concern for some 20,000 people trapped there.
#UNRWAHoping4Syria
"Over 500,000 Palestinian refugees are residing in Syria, refugees since 1948, and in the last years of the conflict in Syria they have been made refugees two, or even three times again.
Because both UNRWA and HOPING’s purpose is to assist Palestinian refugees, we have been working to lift the siege of the refugee camps in Syria, to get emergency supplies into those camps where the population is starving, and to seek ways to make their voices heard.
All refugees have a right in international law to return to their homes. Until such a time, Palestinian refugees have a right to be protected as civilians in times of war, as do all the people of Syria.
We ask the Presidents of the General Assembly and the SecurityCouncil of the United Nations, bodies that represent the peoples of the world, to tell us how they will create safe spaces and local ceasefires with immediate effect. People and relief must be let through. We want our voices to carry, on behalf of those now suffering in Syria, in order to prevent any more tragedy, and we urge everyone to contact them."
Signatories:
Alfonso Cuarón; Andrew Innes; Annie Lennox; Bella Freud; Bobby Gillespie; Bryan Adams; Carsten Höller; Daisy Lowe; David Morrissey; Douglas Hart; Emma Thompson; Eric Fellner; Esther Freud; Hanif Kureishi; Hugh Grant; James Fox; Jemima Khan; Jeremy Deller; Juergen Teller; Karma Nabulsi; Ken Loach; Laura Bailey; Liam Gillick; Marcel Odenbach; Mary McCartney; Nicholas Wright; Peter Gabriel; Robert Del Naja and Grant Marshall ofMassive Attack; Roger Waters; Sheherazade Goldsmith; Stephen Frears; Sting; Tobias Rehberger; Tracey Emin; Trudie Styler; Will Self.
Coverage included:
Press release – English
Press release – Arabic