Quick Facts About Yarmouk Camp

The Nakba: Why Yarmouk Camp Exists

Yarmouk was born from the Nakba (Arabic for "catastrophe"): the mass expulsion of Palestinians during the occupation of Palestine in 1948. Roughly 750,000 Palestinians were driven from their homes, and more than 500 villages and towns were emptied and most of them destroyed.

About 85,000–90,000 refugees reached Syria in 1948, most of them from the north of Palestine: Safed and the Hula Valley, Tiberias, Nazareth, Acre and Haifa. In Damascus they were first sheltered in mosques, schools and public buildings, in districts such as Sheikh Muhyiddin, Rukneddin, al-Amin and Mezze, until they were moved to the land south of the city that became Yarmouk.

In the decades that followed, Yarmouk also received Palestinians displaced again from Lebanon, the border areas, the West Bank and Gaza after 1967, and Jordan after 1970–1971, becoming a meeting place for refugees from every part of Palestine.

The Right of Return

The right of return is the central demand of Yarmouk's refugees. It rests on several foundations in international law:

• UN General Assembly Resolution 194 (11 December 1948), paragraph 11, resolved that refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid to those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property.
• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 13) affirms everyone's right to leave any country, including their own, and to return to it.
• UN General Assembly Resolution 3236 (1974) reaffirmed the "inalienable right" of Palestinians to return to their homes and property.

Yarmouk's people often say that when they return to Palestine, "we will take the camp with us". Since the war, their demand has become double: to return to the camp itself, and from it to Palestine.

History of the Camp (1954–2011)

Founding (1954–1957)

The General Authority for Palestine Arab Refugees (GAPAR), set up in Syria under Law 450 of 1949, rented about 2.1 km² of orchard land south of Damascus. From 1954–1955, families were moved there from the mosques and schools of the city; each family received a small plot of about 40 m², and UNRWA provided help to build a first room. In 1957 a larger area was distributed, forming the main body of the camp, and its quarters were named after cities and villages in Palestine.

From mud houses to a city

The camp began as two rows of single-storey mud houses. Over the decades they gave way to concrete buildings of three to five storeys, and Yarmouk merged into the city of Damascus. In 1964, a local committee (Yarmouk municipality) was established, giving the camp administrative independence; it was abolished in 2018 and replaced by Damascus Governorate.

The "capital of the diaspora"

From the 1960s, Yarmouk became the political and cultural heart of the Palestinian diaspora in Syria. Almost every Palestinian faction opened offices there, and the camp was home to writers, artists, publishing houses, cinemas and the Martyrs' Cemetery, where many Palestinian leaders and fighters are buried, including Khalil al-Wazir (Abu Jihad). Its markets rivalled those of central Damascus, earning it the name "the city that never sleeps". UNRWA described living conditions in Yarmouk as better than in other camps in Syria, and many residents worked as doctors, engineers and civil servants.

War, Siege and Starvation (2012–2018)

2011–2012: refuge, then bombardment

In 2011, Yarmouk opened its homes to Syrians displaced from the suburbs of Damascus. On 16 December 2012, as armed opposition groups entered the camp, a warplane of the former regime struck the Abdul Qader al-Husseini Mosque, where displaced families were sheltering, killing more than 40 people. More than 80% of the camp's residents fled within days.

2013–2015: the starvation siege

The former regime and allied Palestinian militias, among them the PFLP–General Command, placed the camp under siege, tightening it in July 2013 to cut off food, water, medicine and aid. Electricity was cut for about a year. Residents ate grass, leaves and animal feed. According to Amnesty International and the Syrian Network for Human Rights, about 194 civilians died between July 2013 and February 2014, 128 of them from starvation. In January 2014, images of thousands of people waiting among the ruins for UNRWA food parcels became a symbol of the siege. Reports also documented mass killings at the Ali al-Wahsh checkpoint south of the camp, where people were promised safe passage.

2015: ISIS takes over

On 1 April 2015, ISIS fighters entered Yarmouk from neighbouring Hajar al-Aswad and took control of most of the camp, carrying out executions. Only about 18,000 residents remained, trapped between ISIS and the siege, while the camp continued to be hit by barrel bombs.

2018: the final offensive

On 19 April 2018, the former regime and its allies launched a month-long offensive, with hundreds of air raids. The UN described Yarmouk as a "death camp", and the last functioning hospital was destroyed. On 21 May 2018, after ISIS fighters withdrew, the camp was taken; by then only a few hundred people remained. According to the Action Group for Palestinians of Syria, more than 4,000 Palestinians from Syria were killed during the war and more than 3,000 detained.

Destruction and Looting

By the end of the 2018 offensive, about 60% of the camp had been destroyed, according to the Action Group for Palestinians of Syria; some estimates put the destruction at up to 80%. UN estimates cited in 2025 said 60% of buildings, roads and water networks were completely destroyed and the rest badly damaged, and that all UNRWA schools, three health centres and the youth centre were destroyed or out of service. A 2026 assessment cited by the Palestinian Information Center found that about 72% of buildings had some level of damage and about 12% were completely destroyed.

After the offensive, homes were systematically looted ("ta'feesh"): wiring, windows, doors and even the steel from roofs were stripped and sold. The Martyrs' Cemetery was also badly damaged, and most of its graves can no longer be identified.

Restricted Return (2018–2024)

For years after 2018, residents were kept out of the camp:

• 2020: Damascus Governorate proposed a new master plan for the area that residents feared would erase the camp. After objections from residents, Palestinian factions and GAPAR, it was frozen.
• Late 2020: applications to return opened, with three conditions: a structurally sound building, proof of ownership and security approval.
• 2021–2024: about 1,650 families received approval out of more than 6,000 applications, and only around 600 actually returned, living without grid electricity and with almost no water. A 2021 survey found that 72% of displaced residents could not afford to repair their homes.

By late 2024, according to UNRWA estimates, no more than about 8,000 people had returned.

The Current Situation (2025–2026)

A wave of return

After the fall of the former regime in December 2024, security restrictions on return were lifted, and families displaced to Idlib, other parts of Syria and nearby areas began coming home. By late February 2025, community leaders estimated that about 5,000 families (about 25,000 people) had returned; by mid-2025, UNRWA put the population at at least 25,000, about 70% of them Palestinian. Many came back to escape high rents elsewhere in Damascus.

Rebuilding with their own hands

Most of the rebuilding is done by residents themselves, who sell family jewellery and possessions or borrow from relatives. Repairs often mean rebuilding water, electricity and sewage connections from scratch, and in some cases cost more than building a new home. Building materials are scarce and many roads remain closed by rubble. Buildings at risk of collapse are a constant danger.

• Permits: residents must obtain an engineer's safety assessment and proof of ownership to repair or rebuild; no permits are issued for homes that were completely levelled.
• UNRWA support: limited to cash for minor repairs of structurally sound homes. In mid-2025, about 320 households had received help, with 500–600 more in the pipeline; no donor had committed to large-scale reconstruction.
• Waiting: in September 2026, families reported waiting four to eight months for repairs, some living in homes without doors, windows or water.
• Demolitions: in October 2026, residents and the Association of Palestinian Lawyers in Syria reported that municipal crews had demolished roofs, rooms and foundations that families had rebuilt at great cost, on the grounds that new permits were required. The lawyers called for old permits to be recognised and demolitions halted.

Life returning

Construction has revived the local labour market, shops have reopened along Yarmouk and Palestine streets, and the camp's secondary school is operating. In December 2025, residents marked the first anniversary of the regime's fall at the Abdul Qader al-Husseini Mosque under the slogan "Yarmouk: memory of steadfastness and gateway to return". Yet basic services remain weak, electricity is scarce, and many displaced families, in Syria and abroad, still cannot afford to come back.

Justice and Accountability

The crimes committed in Yarmouk are now before European courts. In Germany, five men, four of them stateless Palestinians from Syria linked to pro-regime militias, are on trial before the Koblenz Higher Regional Court (November 2025 to June 2026) for crimes against humanity and war crimes, in the first case to prosecute deliberate starvation as a war crime under universal jurisdiction. A parallel trial began in Sweden in October 2024, and in 2023 a German court sentenced a man to life imprisonment for firing a rocket at civilians waiting for UNRWA aid in Yarmouk in March 2014.

Origin of the Name

The camp is named after the Battle of Yarmouk (636 CE), the decisive battle in which Muslim armies defeated the Byzantines and which opened the way to Bilad al-Sham, including Palestine. According to historian Ali Badran, the name was given by al-Hajj Amin al-Husseini during a visit in 1954.

Location and Geography

Yarmouk lies about 8 km south of the centre of Damascus, within the city's limits. It is bordered by the Tadamon neighbourhood to the east, al-Zahira to the north and south, Yalda to the south-east, Hajar al-Aswad to the south and al-Qadam to the west. Its northern entrance, near the bridge, opens onto the heart of Damascus.

Area, Land and Layout

The camp covers about 2.1 km², land originally rented by GAPAR from Damascene families. Three main streets cross it: Yarmouk Street, Palestine Street and Thirty Street. It is usually divided into three parts: the old camp, from the northern entrance to the Schools Street; West Yarmouk; and the Taqaddum area, which extends to the New Martyrs' Cemetery.

Unlike official camps, Yarmouk is classified by UNRWA as an unofficial camp: the agency provides the same services as elsewhere, except rubbish collection. In 1960, UNRWA declined a Syrian government request to recognise it as an official camp.

Villages of Origin and Streets

Yarmouk's refugees come from across Palestine, but the largest groups trace their roots to the Galilee. Like a map of Palestine in miniature, many of its streets, quarters and markets carry the names of the places they came from: Safad Street, Haifa Street, Lubya Street, Saffuriyya Street, al-Quds (Jerusalem) Street, and the Lubya and Safad markets.

• Nazareth district: Saffuriyya, whose people form one of the largest communities in the camp; about half of Saffuriyya's refugees settled in Syria, most of them along Saffuriyya Street, between Haifa and Safad streets, where the "Saffuriyya guesthouse" still stands.
• Tiberias district: Lubya, which gave its name to one of the camp's main streets and markets.
• Safed district: the city of Safed and the villages of the Hula Valley and Upper Galilee.
• Haifa and Acre: the two coastal cities and their villages, remembered in Haifa Street and streets named after Acre.
• Other areas: refugees from Lydda, Baysan, the Jordan Valley, and later from the West Bank and Gaza.

Other quarters, such as al-Taqaddum, 8 March and al-Uruba, grew informally and carry names unrelated to Palestinian places.

Population and Demographics

Note: Registered refugees are not the same as residents. Before the war, Yarmouk's Palestinian registered refugees lived alongside hundreds of thousands of Syrians; today, many registered refugees from Yarmouk remain displaced elsewhere in Syria or abroad.

Legal Status of Palestinians in Syria

Under Syrian Law 260 of 1956, Palestinian refugees in Syria have enjoyed rights close to those of Syrian citizens in employment, education, health care and trade, while keeping their Palestinian identity and without Syrian nationality or the right to vote. This helped Yarmouk grow into a prosperous, integrated community, unlike the camps in Lebanon. The war, however, left many refugees without documents, and the loss of papers today blocks some families from receiving repair aid or proving ownership.

Economic Life

Before 2011, Yarmouk was one of the busiest commercial areas in Damascus, with the markets of Yarmouk Street, Lubya, Safad, Palestine Street and the car market. Its people included doctors, engineers, teachers, civil servants, traders, craftsmen and labourers. Today, the economy is slowly reviving through construction work and reopened shops, but unemployment, high rents (often more than 1.5 million Syrian pounds a month), and Syria's wider economic crisis weigh heavily on returning families.

Health Situation

Before the war, Yarmouk had three UNRWA health centres, a thalassemia centre, Palestine Hospital run by the Palestine Red Crescent Society, Martyr Fayez Halawa Hospital, the Deir Yassin and Carmel centres, some 450 private clinics and more than 140 pharmacies. During the siege the hospitals ran out of medicine and fuel, and the last one was destroyed in 2018. Since then, UNRWA has provided services mainly through mobile clinics, and returning residents still lack hospitals and pharmacies inside the camp.

Education

Before 2011, UNRWA ran 28 schools in Yarmouk (20 elementary and 8 preparatory), working in double shifts, along with about 20 kindergartens, two government secondary schools and UNRWA's Damascus Training Centre nearby. During the war, UNRWA's schools were destroyed or put out of service; the agency later restored some of its buildings on Schools Street, though most of its installations were still out of service in 2025. The camp's secondary school kept teaching through the war years, with about 400 students from Yarmouk and neighbouring areas.

Culture, Politics and Memory

Yarmouk was the cultural capital of Palestinians in Syria: home to the Palestinian Cultural Centre, the Ghassan Kanafani Forum, the al-Rashid library (1973), the publishing houses al-Shajara, al-Karmel and al-Maw'id, the Yarmouk, Karmel and Nujum cinemas, and the al-Ashiqeen band of revolutionary song. Every major faction had an office there, and the camp sent fighters to every stage of the Palestinian revolution. The Old and New Martyrs' Cemeteries hold the graves of generations of fighters and leaders. Today, initiatives such as the Jafra youth centre and the Yarmouk Camp Committee work to preserve this memory as the camp is rebuilt.

Frequently Asked Questions About Yarmouk Camp

Conclusion

Yarmouk began as plots of 40 square metres for refugees from the Galilee and grew into the "capital of the Palestinian diaspora", a city of markets, schools, cinemas and martyrs' graves. War, siege, hunger and the bombardment of 2018 reduced much of it to rubble and scattered its people for a second time. Today they are coming back, rebuilding Safad Street and Lubya Street with their own hands, and carrying the same promise as before: that one day they will take the camp with them back to Palestine.