( CNN ) The commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency will make an emergency visit to the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in Syria on Saturday , a spokesman says . Commissioner-General Pierre Krähenbühl will assess the humanitarian situation in the camp and speak with individuals about ways to relieve the suffering of the people who remain there . `` The visit is prompted by UNRWA 's deepening concern for the safety and protection of 18,000 Palestinians and Syrian civilians , including 3,500 children , '' agency spokesman Christopher Gunness told CNN 's Paula Newton . `` Yarmouk remains under the control of armed groups , and civilian life continues to be threatened by the effects of the conflict . '' Krähenbühl will meet with senior Syrian officials , U.N. and relief agency staff members , and displaced people from the camp itself . The Yarmouk refugee camp , which sits just 6 miles from central Damascus , has been engulfed in fighting between the Syrian government and armed groups since December 2012 . The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the militant group ISIS and the al Qaeda-affiliated Al-Nusra Front control about 90 % of the camp . The organization also claims that the Syrian government has dropped barrel bombs on the camp as recently as Sunday in an effort to drive out armed groups . Yarmouk was formed in 1957 to accommodate people displaced by the Arab-Israeli conflict and is the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Syria . The U.N. relief agency estimates that there were 160,000 people in the camp when the conflict began in 2011 between forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and opposition fighters . That number has dropped to about 18,000 , according to estimates . Yarmouk has been largely cut off from aid since November 2013 . There have been widespread reports of malnutrition and shortages of medical care . `` We will not abandon hope , '' Gunness said . `` We will not submit to pessimism , because to abandon hope would be to abandon the people of Yarmouk . ... We can not abandon the people of Yarmouk , and we will not , hence this mission . ''
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency chief will visit Yarmouk camp December 2012 . Pierre Krähenbühl will assess the humanitarian situation there . Yarmouk has been engulfed in fighting since Saturday .