Palestinians protest at Iraq-Syria border

758 Palestinian refugees who are stranded at al-Waleed on the Iraq-Syria border have staged an open sit-in since 12 April to draw international attention to what they say is their ongoing suffering. “Our situation is getting worse from day to day, yet no one sees what we’re going through and helps us get through this ordeal,” Qussai Mohammed Saleh, a 32-year-old Palestinian refugee. Saleh said the refugees were tired of short-term solutions to their predicament. “We’re refusing all assistance. The solution to our problem does not lie in giving us assistance. We rejected two truckloads of aid two days ago, donated by an Italian aid agency. It’s been raining cats and dogs for the past two days and the heavy rain has filled our tents with water. We demand that Arab and international leaders take an immediate decision about us. There’s only one goal for us and that’s to get out of Iraq as soon as possible without being hurt. We’ll continue with our sit-in until we achieve this goal.” Another 826 Palestinian refugees are scattered in three other makeshift camps.