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Almost 200 Palestinians fleeing Iraq remain at Syrian border

Damascus_(dpa) _ Although hopes are slim that the Syrian authorities will allow them in, some 194 Iraq-based Palestinians remain at the Syrian-Iraqi border, saying they would prefer to die in the desert rather than return to Baghdad, reports said Sunday.

The Palestinians travelled to the border at al-Tanaf, 300 kilometres north-east of Damascus, in mid-May after the Syrian authorities allowed some 287 Palestinians to enter its territory in what it said was a "humanitarian" move.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry has said it will not allow any more Palestinians from Iraq to enter its territory. However, the Palestinians remain hopeful that the Syrian government may change its position.

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has erected a temporary camp of 60 tents for the 194 Palestinians and is providing them with food, drink and medical care, Abdelhamid El-Ouali, the UNHCR representative in Syria, said.

"I prefer to live here in the desert over returning to Baghdad as there I don't know how I would die; by shooting, burning or stabbing. There is absolutely no security there," said a 28-year-old Palestinian man.

Another Palestinian said he was arrested by the Iraqi Interior Ministry and "tortured for 16 days, day and night, just because I am a Palestinian. I prefer to stay here all my life than return to Iraq."

According to UN statistics, there are some 34,000 Palestinian refugees in Iraq and more than half a million in Syria. dpa opc pmc

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