Al-Tanf Visual mission: Palestinians in no-man’s land between Iraq and Syria

Iraq once had a Palestinian refugee community of 25,000 – 30,000 people. They sought refuge in Iraq after the 1948 and 1967 Israeli-Arab wars. As many as three generations of Palestinian refugees have been born in Iraq, never seeing their homeland. They were treated well by the Saddam Hussein regime, largely as a political gesture of support for the cause of Palestinian independence.

With the fall of the Hussein regime in Iraq, Palestinians soon became targets of nationalist ire. Seen as supporters of the former dictator, in 2004 Palestinians began receiving death threats and demands that they leave Iraq. Today, the UN estimates that there are fewer than 5,000 Palestinians left in Iraq. Many have been killed, and most have sought refuge outside Iraq – displaced from their homes and communities for the second time in 60 years.

Though Syria has an open door policy for Iraqi refugees, Palestinians are now barred from entering Syria for resettlement as Syria is already home to 450,000 Palestinian refugees and does not want more to settle permanently in Syria. Arab and Western governments, approached by the UN, have also refused to resettle this group. As a result, 372 Palestinians are now trapped in a No Man’s Land between the border of Iraq and Syria. With few options available to them, one woman spoke for the group when she said, “I would rather be buried here than return to Iraq – there is nothing there for us but threats and death.” In the meantime, this group of people awaits help from a world that is unaware of their plight.

Syria: Border crossing in a barren desert Photo Credit: Refugees International 11/07/2006 Palestinian refugees are being held at a camp operated by UNHCR near the border crossing of Al-Tanf. The crossing is located in the middle of barren desert, with no cities on either side for hundreds of miles. In the summer, daytime temperatures can soar above 130 degrees. Now, at the beginning of November, temperatures have already dropped below freezing at night.

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