but this this is utterly sad - May their and others around the world return to Palestine
Real soon.
Thirty-six Palestinian refugees who fled the conflict in Iraq
after the fall of Saddam Hussein headed to Brazil from a desert camp in
Jordan on Thursday to start a new life.
"Eight families of Palestinian refugees left the Ruweished camp to fly to
Brazil, where the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees will provide
them with all necessary assistance," UNHCR spokeswoman Rana Sweiss said.
They are the second of three groups who fled Iraq for neighbouring Jordan
following Saddam's ouster in 2003 and are being rehoused in Brazil with help
from the Brazilian government and the United Nations.
"We do hope for the best and wish that they will adapt very quickly and have
a very happy life," said Brazil's ambassador to Jordan Antonio Carlos, who
saw off the group at Amman's international airport.
"Six children are among the group, including a boy who was born in the camp.
There is also a pregnant woman who is expected to deliver in Brazil," he
told AFP.
Officials have said Brazil plans to teach them Portuguese and give them
identity papers so they will have the same status as Brazilian citizens.
They will receive monthly financial aid until they are able to support
themselves.
Last month, 35 refugees arrived in Brazil, and a third group of 37 is due to
fly there on October 18.
The Palestinians had been stranded for around three years in a desert
transit refugee camp near the border with Iraq.
London-based Amnesty International said in a report on Monday that thousands
of Palestinian refugees in Iraq had been ill-treated, with many of them
abducted, tortured and murdered by armed Shiite Muslim groups.
Palestinians are targeted, it said, because they are seen to have received
"preferential treatment" under Saddam's ousted dictatorship, Amnesty said,
urging international protection for them.
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