GENEVA, Dec 14 (Reuters) - The United Nations refugee agency on Thursday appealed to countries to provide a "safe haven" for Palestinians in Iraq, saying they were increasingly the victims of kidnappings and killings but had "no way out".
It said in a statement that local militia on Wednesday shelled the Al Baladiya district of Baghdad, a Palestinian neighbourhood, for three hours "with no attempt by the Iraqi police or multinational forces to halt the attack".
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said the Palestinian Red Crescent Society had given it details of the attack. At least nine people were killed, including children, and 11 wounded, and militia blocked ambulances from taking victims to hospital, it said.
"We are urgently appealing to the Iraqi government and the multinational forces to provide protection and safety or an alternative safe location for this targeted group," said Radhouane Nouicer, UNHCR's deputy director for the region.
"We also ask the world to stop turning their back and provide a humane solution and safe haven to these people who have no way out," he added.
The Geneva-based UNHCR has often voiced concern at the frequent threats against the estimated 15,000 Palestinians living in Iraq, where sectarian violence, revenge killings and attacks on U.S.-led coalition forces take some 100 lives a day.
"In recent months, Palestinians have been the victims of kidnappings and targeted killings, with an increase in attacks and abductions over the last weeks," the agency said.
A mortar attack in the same Al Baladiya neighbourhood on Dec. 9 had left 10 people wounded "while several eminent Palestinians were kidnapped", it said.
Syria, which took up to 287 Palestinians last May, has closed its borders to other desperate Palestinians, according to the UNHCR.
More than 350 Palestinians are stuck in "inhumane conditions" in a no-man's land on the border between Iraq and Syria, it added.
UNHCR has also approached other countries to resettle Palestinians, but so far the only other positive response has been from Canada, which took in 64 Palestinians who had been stuck in the Jordanian desert for years.
An estimated 700,000 Iraqis have fled to Syria and Jordan.
