Al-Waleed ( ar, مخيم الوليد) is a makeshift

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

refugee camp in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

, near the border with Syria and the al-Tanf Crossing, and not far from the border with

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

. It was set up in 2006 by Iraqi-Palestinian and Iraqi refugees stranded at the Iraqi–Syrian border. The

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...

has two field staff stationed in the camp.al-Shamayleh, Nisreen
"The agony of Iraq's Palestinians"
''

Al-Jazeera English Al Jazeera English (AJE; ar, الجزيرة‎, translit=al-jazīrah, , literally "The Peninsula", referring to the Qatar Peninsula) is an international 24-hour English-language news channel owned by the Al Jazeera Media Network, which is own ...

''. 2009-06-21. In 2008, it had a population of 1,649 refugees, 1,602 of whom were Palestinians and the remainders Iraqis. Since March 2006, a steady flow of Palestinians has been leaving

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...

. People arrive at al-Waleed camp on a regular basis and most come from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Last year, the Iraqi Ministry of Displacement and Migration called on all Palestinians at al-Waleed to return to their homes in

, promising them financial compensation, assistance and protection. However, the ultimate goal of the camp's residents is to get out of Iraq as soon as possible without getting hurt. In 2008 and 2009, 375 people left for resettlement in Iceland, the UK, the US, Denmark, France, the Netherlands and Norway. Al-Waleed suffers from poor hygiene and an absence of medical care amid extreme weather conditions. Children, women and the elderly have died due to the lack of adequate health care. The nearest hospital is a four-hour drive away along a dangerous route. The tents are overcrowded and many residents have chronic respiratory ailments, high blood pressure, diabetes and heart problems. Tents fill with water when it rains, and temperatures can fall below freezing in the winter. In the summer, temperatures above 50 degrees Celsius have been recorded, while sandstorms, fires, snakes and scorpions all present dangers. With no sewage system, waste water runs openly through the camp, leading to a higher occurrence of disease and infections among children who play between the tents. Despite the closure of al-Tanf camp on February 1, 2010 and the resettlement of approximately 1,000 Palestinians to third countries, al-Waleed continues to host close to 1,300 Palestinian refugees.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waleed Populated places established in 2006 2006 establishments in Iraq Refugee camps in Iraq