Rural Damascus – The Action Group
Action Group for Palestinians of Syria (AGPS) has released a human rights report titled “The Painful Harvest,”revealing the continued suffering of Palestinian refugees in Jaramana camp in rural Damascus. The report documents the killing of 124 refugees and the arrest of 189 others between March 2011 and December 2024, placing the camp sixth among Palestinian camps in Syria in terms of the number of victims.
According to the report, the camp – which was considered one of the most stable camps in the early years of the revolution – witnessed a “bloody chapter”in the Palestinian tragedy in Syria, as a result of intermittent shelling, armed clashes in its vicinity, and arrest campaigns targeting both activists and civilians, in addition to a sharp decline in living conditions and the displacement of a large number of families.
*Victims, detainees, and children subjected to torture:*
The report revealed what it described as ‘shocking’ figures, documenting 112 men, 12 women, and 15 children among the victims, including 22 who died under torture in the prisons of the former Syrian regime.
It also documented the arrest of 189 refugees from the camp, including 11 women, 34 of whom died under torture, while 45 remain forcibly disappeared, and only 28 detainees have been released.
*Testimonies documenting the suffering:*
The report included harrowing testimonies from inside the camp, confirming that ‘Jaramana was a safe haven, then it turned into a killing field.’ One resident stated, ‘Not a single family in the camp escaped the losses; it was either a death, a detention, or a disappearance.’
*Comparison and figures* show that Jaramana camp ranked sixth in terms of the number of victims and fifth in terms of the number of detainees, compared to other camps such as Sayyida Zeinab (272 victims) and Khan al-Shih (471 detainees). The release rate of detainees in Jaramana was only 14.8%, lower than the overall average in the other camps.
*Calls for accountability and justice:*
In its concluding remarks, the Action Group demanded the immediate disclosure of the fate of the forcibly disappeared, the prosecution of those responsible for murder, arrest, and torture, and the provision of fair compensation to the victims’ families. It also called for the provision of psychological and social support to survivors and the reconstruction of damaged homes and public facilities within the camp.
This report is part of a documentary series prepared by the Action Group monitoring the conditions of Palestinian camps in Syria since 2011, in an effort to keep the issue of violations alive in human rights and media awareness until justice is achieved for the victims and their families.