Palestinians in Syria banned from receiving remittances

 An employee of a money transfer service in Syria claimed that the Syrian government has issued a decision banning the sending of remittances to non-Syrians inside the country, a Palestinian organization said on Friday,  Ma’an News Agency said.

An employee of a Western Union branch inside Syria reportedly refused to deliver money to a Palestinian refugee after his relative abroad tried to send it to him, the Action Group for the Palestinians of Syria group said in a statement.

A Palestinian refugee from Syria currently living in Europe, identified only by his initials K.A., said that he was not allowed to transfer 50 thousand Syrian pounds ($300) to his relatives in Syria.

The employee at the Western Union in Syria claimed that the government issued a decision banning the workers of Western Union or any such branches to deliver any remittances to non-Syrians, the statement said.

The Action Group for the Palestinians of Syria denounced these practices, and noted that such practices are forms of collective punishment against Palestinians by the government. The group called on the Syrian government to stop such practices and not to involve Palestinian people in the Syria conflict, Ma'an News reported.

The Syrian conflict, which began as peaceful protests in March 2011 but developed into a civil war, has killed more than 120,000 people and prompted millions to flee their homes.

Thousands of foreign fighters have entered the country in order to fight the regime, including many aligned with radical Wahhabi militant groups.

At least 1,500 Palestinians have been killed in the ongoing Syria conflict, and around 250,000 Palestinian refugees have been forced to leave their refugee camps in Syria due to violence in the country.

Prior to the conflict, 600,000 Palestinian refugees lived in Syria.

Between 7-800,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes inside Israel during the 1948 conflict that led to the creation of the State of Israel, and today their descendants number around five million, spread across the world.