Yarmouk Camp

Yarmouk (Arabic: ٱلْيَرْمُوك, ALA-LC: al-Yarmūk, IPA: [æl.jærˈmʊːk]) is a 2.11-square-kilometer (520-acre) district of the city of Damascus, populated by Palestinians. It is located 8 kilometers (5.0 mi) from the center of Damascus and within municipal boundaries; this was not the case when it was established in 1957. It contains hospitals and schools. Yarmouk is an "unofficial" refugee camp (Arabic: مُخَيَّم, ALA-LC: muḵayyam), as UNRWA rejected a Syrian government request to recognize the camp in 1960. Now depopulated, it was home to the largest Palestinian refugee community in Syria. As of June 2002, there had been 112,550 registered refugees living in Yarmouk. During the Syrian Civil War, Yarmouk camp became the scene of intense fighting in 2012 between the Free Syrian Army and the PFLP-GC, supported by Syrian government forces. The camp was consequently taken over by various factions and deprived of supplies, resulting in hunger, disease and a high death rate, which caused many to flee. By the end of 2014, the population had gone down to 20,000 residents. In early April 2015, most of the camp was overrun by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, sparking armed clashes with Palestinian militia Aknaf Bait al-Maqdis. At this point, the population was estimated at 18,000. After intense fighting in April/May 2018, Syrian government forces took the camp, leaving only 100–200 residents. It is estimated that 160,000 Palestinians were displaced and forced to flee Yarmouk during the Syrian civil war. Many Palestinians were concerned that the Syrian regime would redevelop the area and send the former residents to remote scrubland. In 2022, Palestinians began to return, but the population remains far from its pre-war peak.