Palestinian refugees fleeing Syria stage Cairo sit-in
Dozens of Palestinian-Syrian refugees began a sit-in at the Palestinian embassy in Cairo to voice their demands for equal treatment with Syrian refugees and assistance from local authorities.
Gathering under a banner reading “don’t kill us twice,” Palestinian refugees began their open ended sit-in before the Palestinian embassy in Egypt on Tuesday morning, demanding to be recognised as refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Children held signs spelling out the slogan while protestors broke out in various chants, including "down with the Ambassador." In the afternoon, protestors said they were threatened by police, who told them that “thugs” in the neighbourhood might attack them. Embassy bodyguards also secured the perimeters.
Frustrated over being denied refugee status by UNCHR, protestors, who previously lived in refugee camps in Syria, say that they should be given the same rights as Syrian refugees in Egypt.
“They [protestors] cannot register themselves as refugees. They can't put their children in schools. They’re not given healthcare nor do they have any kind of humanitarian services,” Hanine Hassan, organiser and Palestinian human rights activist said at the sit-in.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/69972/World/Region/Palestinian-refugees-fleeing-Syria-stage-Cairo-sit.aspx
