Plight of Iraq's Palestinian refugees worsens: UN

[Barrett808]

Source: Reuters

DAMASCUS, May 14 (Reuters) - Intense heat and a lack of water and medical care are making life "hell" for around 1,000 Palestinians stranded in a camp near Iraq's border with Syria, a U.N. official who visited the refugees said on Monday.

A baby has died from fever and a man from asthma at the desolate al-Waleed camp in the desert. A 13-year-old needs a back operation to avoid paralysis and a two-year-old girl with cerebral palsy has no specialist care, said Michelle Alfaro, Iraq protection officer for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

"The refugee numbers are swelling by the day. It's a tragedy for these people to start dying from preventable diseases after escaping Baghdad to save their lives," said Alfaro, who obtained a clearance from the Syrian authorities to cross to the camp.

"The conditions are especially treacherous for children. There is nothing green to be seen anywhere. With the heat and dust, life is hell," Alfaro told Reuters and the BBC at the offices of the UNHCR in the Syrian capital.

Read more: http://mobile.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/OWE436114.htm