President Saleh of Yemen, arriving in Riyadh, said that the Arab League summit has to tackle with a sense of responsibility the ordeal of the Palestinians living in Iraq, in light of the threats and violence they have been experiencing at the hands of militias and death squads.
IMEMC reports Palestinian Refugees in Iraq sent a statement to the Arab League summit in Riyadh asking the participants “not to allow the Iraqi delegation to side-step their issue”, and asking them not to believe the delegation’s pledges of protecting them. They said that the Iraqi government is not interested in protecting the refugees “since it had many chances to do so, but chose not to”, and accused the Iraqi government of “giving orders for committing crimes against the refugees”. The refugees also said that the government repeatedly vowed in several previous conferences that it would provide the Palestinian refugees with the needed protection “but waged more violent attacks against them”. In their message to the summit, the refugees stated that there is a growing rejection to their presence in Iraq. “If the summit only voices a naïve statement calling for our protection, the leaders should know that they have fired the mercy bullet at us”, the letter of the refugee reads, “a naïve statement would be similar to passing a death sentence on the refugees who remain here”.
Mafkarat al-Islam reported that two Palestinian refugees living in Iraq had been tortured to death in Iraqi Interior Ministry prisons. The Palestinian Information Center quoted Palestinians who were among a group of 12 who were locked up in an Interior Ministry prison who said that the two were killed when they were being tortured in an attempt to extract “confessions” that they were responsible of attacks on the US and its local puppet allies. The source indicated that seven Palestinian refugees, detained in the Interior Ministry’s prisons since the massacres in the al-Baladiyat neighborhood of Baghdad two weeks ago, are expected to be released on Monday. Palestinian sources said that the Interior Ministry, launched a major campaign of raids, searches, and mass arrests targeted on Palestinians in Baghdad in the last two days. A group of four large buses hauled about 200 Palestinian refugees out of Baghdad, dumping them at the al-Walid tent camp near the Iraqi border with Syria.
The Yemen News Agency reports that a symposium organized by Kanan Association for Supporting Palestine called for Arab Leaders to alliviate the suffering of Palestinians in Iraq and sent a copy of the call to the UN Secretary General, Security Council and European Union. The Chairman of the Association, Yahya Saleh, said the symposium aims at shedding light on the suffering of the Palestinian refugees in Iraq within the framework of preparing for an international conference to protect the civil rights of Palestinian refugees in different countries.
At a press conference with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, President Abbas demanded that the UN Security Council rescue the Palestinian refugees in Iraq since they are subjected to systematic attacks.
Ma'an news agency reports that a spokesperson for the UNHCR said that consultations are ongoing regarding transporting the Palestinian refugees in Iraq to Yemen as a temporary settlement. She said that the project is not the first suggestion and previously Kurdistan, Canada and Australia had been considered.
UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond said "UNHCR and other organisations have also received allegations of physical abuse and possibly torture being carried out [on Palestinians] in detention, an allegation denied by the Iraqi authorities. One ex-detainee reported he was beaten on his back and suffered a broken hand. He believed that others had been subjected to worse treatment." Seperately UNHCR notes that it has "received reports that the families of several detained Palestinians have been forced to pay thousands of dollars to some members of the Iraqi security forces – allegedly for protection from torture and mutilation of their family members while in detention. Higher sums have reportedly been demanded to ensure their release. The Palestinians who arrived at the border claimed that their houses had been raided by the special forces, their furniture thrown out of their homes and that they were told they had two days to leave their homes. Others claimed they had been detained and maltreated before being released. UNHCR is also very much concerned about the safety of NGOs working with the Palestinians. On March 13, one NGO staff dealing with the Palestinian community was abducted in front of his son by unknown men and found dead the next day." He added that at least 186 Palestinians had been confirmed murdered in Baghdad between April 2004 and January this year. UNHCR believes the number may be significantly higher. "How much more will have to happen before the international community and the countries in the region respond positively to calls to have Palestinians relocated out of Iraq," said Andrew Harper, head of UNHCR's Iraq Support Unit. "The Palestinians are particularly targeted, not protected and have nowhere to flee to."
Reuters reports from al-Tanf camp: "Hameda Um Firas has lived most of her 70-odd years as a refugee - now she is stranded in a tent again at Iraq's border with Syria where hundreds of Palestinians have fled to escape violence in Baghdad. "We escaped in fear of our lives. My granddaughter was decapitated by a missile attack and our sons were killed, we fled Iraq to spare our lives," she said, barely able to contain tears of anger at Arab countries she said should be helping. "We are living in a miserable state in this camp," she said as children played in dusty lanes between white tents with clothes hanging to dry on the guy ropes. A 25-year-old who gave only his first name, Alaa, fled to the camp at the Tanaf border crossing after gunmen killed one of his brothers. "All my family are separated now, I know nothing about my brothers and where they are," he said... UNHCR spokeswoman Astrid van Genderen Stort said "The difference with Palestinians is they have nowhere to go," she said. "A lot of them have expired identity papers which the Iraqis are not extending because it's not their priority. They're in a Catch-22. They're targeted, they have death threats, they have these raids, but they can't flee and when they flee they either have to do it illegally or they are stuck at the border. Palestinians are seen as insurgents or trouble makers ... because they're Sunnis."
UNHCR has condemned Thursday's raid, apparently part of the Baghdad secu. It says at least one person was killed and "Sixty people were reportedly detained during Wednesday's raid, but most were released and just nine are said to be still in detention. The raid prompted at least 41 other Palestinians to flee the capital and join 850 compatriots who have been stranded at the Iraq-Syria border since last May. [and] "More are expected to be on their way," UNHCR chief spokesperson, Ron Redmond, told reporters in Geneva." The dead man was a guard at a Baghdad mosque and reportedly suffered at least one gunshot to the head."
Iraq Slogger notes that the Iraqi News Agency reported Palestinian Prime Minister Isma'il Haniya and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas both condemned the raid and demanding that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and President Jalal Talabani protect the Palestinian refugee community in Iraq from victimization at the hands of both the government forces and armed religious groups.
