Press Releases

BADIL Resource Center is pleased to announce the release of our latest film production, 'Fleeing the Same War',  an international production that examines the British government’s policies and actions in relation to the emergency state of Palestinian refugees from Syria.

Since the start of the ongoing crisis in Syria in 2011, approximately 300,000 of the 560,000 Palestinian refugees who were registered in Syria have been displaced. In search of sanctuary, between 60,000-79,000 are estimated to have fled to Europe where individual state policies towards them have varied.

In September 2015, amid widespread criticism against its inaction in response to the Syrian crisis, the British government announced an official program to resettle 20,000 refugees from Syria in the country. It was later uncovered that this scheme was only accessible to 'Syrian nationals' - a position which excluded and discriminated against Palestinian refugees from Syria leaving them no official access to resettlement in the UK. Case studies also suggest that Palestinian refugees from Syria who have made the perilous journey to the UK at the hands of people smugglers are facing a more complex asylum process than Syrian nationals despite their having fled exactly the same crisis and faced the same horrors.

Based on extensive research and featuring interviews with Palestinian refugees, lawyers, and NGO representatives, 'Fleeing the Same War' explores the plight of Palestinian refugees from Syria within the UK and the related policies that have been put in place by the British government.

Fundamentally, the film sheds light on these issues in order to demand greater protection for Palestinian refugees from Syria, and equal treatment similar to other refugees in the UK and internationally.