At the end of 1997, Syria hosted approximately 361,000 refugees in need of protection. They included 356,739 Palestinian refugees registered with UNRWA and about 3,990 non-Palestinian refugees registered with UNHCR. About 1,600 non-Palestinians sought UNHCR protection during the year. Some 23,000 Iraqi nationals not registered with UNHCR also lived Syria during 1997, many of whom may be refugees. Of the Palestinian refugees registered with UNRWA, some 104,011, about 29 percent, were living in camps. Palestinian refugees in Syria represented 10.4 percent of all UNRWA-registered refugees. Another 64,000 Palestinians living in Syria were not registered with UNRWA, according to the Palestine Liberation Organization's Refugee Affairs Department. Conditions for refugees in Syria remain shrouded, due to the lack of free speech, the lack of independent human rights monitoring organizations, a government-controlled press, and the intimidating presence of all-powerful state security forces and an omnipresent intelligence network. UNRWA Budget Cuts Palestinian refugees in Syria strongly protested UNRWA's announcement on August 20 of its latest round of budget cuts‹on top of austerity measures introduced in 1993, 1996, and February 1997. Prior to a September 9 meeting of donor nations in Amman, Palestinian refugees in Damascus demonstrated to protest the announced cuts in services. While new pledges enabled UNRWA to cancel the most severe of the austerity measures‹school fees, and hospital reimbursements and referrals‹the previously announced 15 percent reduction in international staff and the freeze on recruiting extra teachers, among others, remained in place. UNRWA's budget crisis affected all aspects of the agency's operations in Syria during 1997. Insufficient funding led to declining standards in health care for UNRWA-registered refugees. Hospitalization needs outstripped UNRWA's ability to provide services. Syrian hospitals provided health care services to some refugees, but this usually involved long waiting periods for non-emergency cases. UNRWA's funding shortfalls also produced a shortage of medical supplies. As in other areas, the freeze on hiring new staff strained UNRWA's health care services. Unsuitable living conditions remained a problem for Palestinians in Syria during the year. For several years, housing and the sewage system in the overcrowded Neirab camp near Aleppo have been inadequate, but little progress was made in 1997 to improve conditions there. After much delay, UNRWA completed a feasibility study to replace Neirab's sewage system. Construction began in July and is scheduled for completion in September 1998. Refugee families continued to live in unsafe and decrepit former army barracks in Neirab. A plan to provide new housing was shelved in 1996 because it lacked Syria's approval. Housing rehabilitation remained largely frozen during 1997 because of UNRWA austerity measures. During the 1996-97 reporting year, UNRWA completed construction of 14 classrooms to avoid triple shifting. Nevertheless, the serious overcrowding in UNRWA schools continued, with 92 percent operating on double shifts. UNRWA reported the urgent need for more classroom construction as well as maintenance of old facilities. Some Palestinian refugees reportedly have had difficulty traveling to and from Syria. The Syrian authorities do not permit Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to enter Syria. Non-Palestinian Refugees Of the 3,990 UNHCR-registered refugees in Syria at the end of 1997, 2,491 were from Iraq, 692 from Yemen, 606 from Somalia, and 201 from other countries. Some 1,300 refugees, almost all Iraqi nationals, resided in El Hol camp in northern Syria. The remainder, including most Yemeni and Somali refugees, were registered with UNHCR in Damascus. In August, Iraqi refugees in Damascus protested UNHCR's decision to discontinue financial assistance to some refugees, primarily Iraqis. Part of a new UNHCR comprehensive policy on urban refugees, the financial cuts primarily affected refugees registered with UNHCR in Damascus and other urban areas. The new UNHCR urban refugee policy holds that refugees should be assisted in rural camps, such as the El Hol camp, rather than in cities, where assistance is more costly. While not challenging the goal of promoting greater refugee self-reliance, a broad spectrum of nongovernmental organizations criticized the UNHCR urban refugee policy for failing to meet international standards of refugee protection. In an August 18 letter, USCR urged UNHCR to postpone the urban refugee policy in Damascus and other locales until after a fuller discussion of the policy's merits. While UNHCR subsequently revised the urban refugee policy in December, the new version maintained the premise that UNHCR should only provide care and maintenance assistance to urban refugees in exceptional circumstances. However, refugee protests ultimately derailed UNHCR's attempts to cut financial assistance to refugees in Damascus. Although the government denied forcibly repatriating refugees, reports alleged forced repatriation of Iraqi refugees and asylum seekers, as well as refugees of other nationalities during the year. Internal Displacement Except for some Druze villagers who stayed behind, most of the Syrian population of the Golan Heights fled in 1967. Estimates of their original numbers are controversial. Israel says that about 70,000 left; Syria puts the original number at 153,000, and says that the number has grown to almost 500,000, 29 years later. After the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, Israel agreed to return a slice of territory along the eastern edge of the Golan Heights, extending to Kuneitra, the one-time capital of Golan Province, in return for the repatriation of Israeli POWs. Before leaving, however, the Israelis leveled the city with bulldozers and dynamite. Although its 53,000 displaced residents had been expected to return, President Assad said that the city was uninhabitable, and it remained empty. Stateless Kurds Another little-known group outside Syria are 142,000 stateless Kurds in northeastern Syria. Although they are registered by the government, and have strong claims to Syrian citizenship, Syria denies them citizenship. Consequently, they carry no passports and cannot travel outside Syria, yet are denied the rights and benefits of Syrian citizens. Syria disenfranchised this group in 1962, saying they were "alien infiltrators." In a report issued in 1996, Human Rights Watch said that although the stated purpose of a recent census of this population was to identify illegal immigrants, in fact, it served part of a comprehensive plan to "Arabize" northeastern Syria. The group is divided into 67,000 classified as "foreigners" and 75,000 termed "maktoumeen," meaning "unregistered." The former are issued red identity documents, which prevent them from owning land, practicing certain professions, receiving food subsidies, being admitted to public hospitals, or having legally recognized marriages to Syrian citizens. The latter are issued no documents at all. Maktoumeen are the children (grandchildren, etc.) of "foreigners," including foreigners who marry women who are Syrian citizens.
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