Monday photo: Leaving no-man’s land

This week’s Monday photo comes from the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR.

It’s a photo from Al-Tanf refugee camp, which has closed – we hope – for good. Established in 2006, when hundreds of Palestinian refugees fleeing persecution in Iraq were prevented from crossing into Syria, the border camp was never meant to be a home. But that’s what the strip of desert sandwiched between a busy highway and a wall became.

This month, the United Nations refugee agency transferred the last 60 people from Al-Tanf, ending their long exile in a bleak no-man’s land.

UNHCR/B.Diab

A young boy helps pack up the last of the belongings of the Al-Tanf refugees.

UNICEF supported the children of Al-Tanf camp with recreational materials and counselling. The residents of Al-Tanf join about 2,000 other Palestinian refugees in camps inside Syria and in Iraq, according to UNHCR.