"Al-Ramdan" in southern Syria...a forgotten camp and "the electricity is not cut off"!

"Al-Ramdan" in southern Syria...a forgotten camp and "the electricity is not cut off"!

Near the town of Dumayr in southern Syria, and at the ends of the Damascus-Baghdad international road, approximately 2,500 Palestinian refugees live in the "Ramdan" camp, which is 60 km from the center of the capital, Damascus, to the southeast. And the Palestinian camps, and indeed, many Palestinians in Syria and abroad have never heard of it before. A Palestinian refugee in the camp (who preferred not to be named): The absence of media coverage of the small camp, contributed to people not hearing about it, in addition to its relatively remote location He added to "Quds Press": Even during the years of war and the battles that took place in the outskirts of the capital and its towns, the camp remained safe and did not get involved in the conflict, so its name did not appear in the news bulletins. He pointed out that the "Ramdan" camp is perhaps the only residential area. In Syria, where the electricity is never cut off, due to the location of the camp surrounded by several military sites, and the passage of the military electrical line in the area. Noting that this feature allowed them to use electric heaters in the winter in light of the scarcity and high prices of fuel in the country. The Palestinian refugee continues in “Al-Ramdan ": no Public transportation reaches the camp, which constitutes a major crisis for the families, who depend on the cars of their relatives or neighbors. Renting a car costs 30,000 Syrian pounds to the nearest point, which is the town of “Al-Dameer” which is only 9 km away.” “Internet of the surfaces”! We see people on the roofs of their homes raising their mobile phones in search of coverage, especially after 12 pm. The Palestinian refugee tells our agency: However, if you are lucky, you will only be able to send and receive messages very slowly, while sending pictures, audio clips and videos is impossible. : We have submitted requests for more than a year to Syriatel and MTN to install a tower in the camp, and so far this has not been achieved despite the promises. The camp also does not have a telephone land line, and he explained that the nearest area with a communication network is approximately 1 km. No water Drinking reaches the homes, and pointed out that there are three wells in the camp, one of these wells was dug in 1997, and is still in place until now. They are located on top of the alleys connected to the well. As for the two wells, they are connected to the well For two others, their water is sulfur that is only suitable for washing and cleaning, and they are the wells whose water reaches homes. The basic education is poor, and there are two schools in the camp; Elementary and preparatory only, and the “Palestinian refugee” says that education was good before the events, as university professors were appointed in all subjects. However, because of the war, it was intended to assign educated baccalaureate holders from the camp’s residents to teach, even though they were not qualified Well. There is also a kindergarten in the camp that was established in 2009 affiliated with the General Authority for Palestinian Refugees, and there are four women for whom the state does not allocate a monthly salary, but rather get their salaries from the children’s monthly installments, and despite the quality of education in the kindergarten, it lacks care and support. It has toys for children or new educational tools for children. Living and health conditions About 80 percent of the camp’s residents work in agriculture, while 20 percent work as employees or laborers in the industrial “Adra” area, with salaries not exceeding $30 per month, while families depend on transfers Their expatriate children in Europe. The Palestinian refugee said: "UNRWA does not perform its duties towards the camp as it should, and every time UNRWA employees come with donors to the camp, we do not see an impact of these visits in the service and humanitarian reality." The reality of the camp has been the same since its establishment. And that the role of UNRWA is limited to medical care through a modest medical center that lacks medicines, and there is no other medical center or pharmacy in the camp, and the nearest hospital is 45 km away from the camp. One per week, which leads to the accumulation of waste, which poses a threat to the health of children and those with chronic diseases. Despite the residents’ continuous complaints and their demands for an increase in working days for the tractor, but without a response from those concerned. The residents of the Masaken neighborhood in the camp have also been suffering from the problem of a flood of houses with sewage water since 2010, due to the sewage extensions being higher than the level of homes in the Masaken neighborhood, forcing them to Many people dig “artistic holes” near their homes. The area of ​​“Al-Ramdan” camp is 2,500 dunums, and the International Relief Agency “UNRWA” does not recognize it, despite the provision of some services to it and its contribution to its establishment in 1954. The camp was named by this name, in reference to The Ramdan area is located on its territory.