Hashtag campaign for Yarmouk residents launched by Syrian activists

Young Syrian activists on Twitter and Facebook have launched an Arabic hashtag campaign to highlight the worsening situation in Syria's largest Palestinian refugee camp.

Yarmouk has been besieged by regime forces for two years, after opposition groups took control of the camp.

The Arabic hashtag, #We_Won’t_Leave_Yarmouk, has been trending on social media since the campaign was launched on Tuesday night.

Activist Mohammad Iyad al-Madhoun says that the hash tag has been used 14,000 times by Facebook and Twitter users in solidarity with the residents.

There are around 18,000 residents in Yarmouk, and the blockade on the camp enforced by the Syrian military has denied civilians of access to food, medical supplies, clean water and electricity.

"We have been under siege for 605 days, electricity has been cut for 700 days and water has been cut for 179 days. So far the number of people who have died from starvation is 177, over 3,000 children are living without food, electricity and water," said Yarmouk resident, Shadia Tareq.

Radwan al-Akhras, one of the organisers of the campaign, also tweeted dozens of pictures showing the appalling conditions in the camp.

"[Yarmouk] you are a part of the Palestinian body that is smeared with the blood of injustice and the siege. Your screams of pain have yet to stir up the spirt of pride and victory in the Islamic world," said Izzat al-Risheq, a member of Hamas' political bureau on Twitter.

Occasional deliveries of humanitarian aid are made to the camp outside Damascus, but only after lengthy negotiations with the regime.

The amount of food delivered has been deemed to be insufficient to meet the needs of the thousands of residents in the camp.

This article is an edited translation from our Arabic edition.