They don’t. He says new sources of money must be found to help them.
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The US was behind the establishment of UNRWA in 1950, with a promise that its creation would lead to the implementation of the, which called for unconditional return of the Palestinian refugees.
The announcement had been anticipated both by senior officials at UNRWA and other Washington insiders, leading to warnings it may further destabilise the Middle East. However, the reality of the situation is that humanitarian support requires money for such efforts to be successful. Upgrade your experience by choosing Ajaka cautioned that if the investigation does show corruption at UNRWA, “we must differentiate whether the results are related to the so-called ‘deal-of-the-century’ [the way critics often refer to the Arab-Israeli peace plan being put forward by the Trump Administration – ed.] The refusal to allow Palestinian refugees to return to their homes is a violation of the UN Resolution 194, which mandates that “, the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date.”, Commissioner-General of UNRWA, Pierre Krähenbühl, stating that “, the prospect of over half a million students not attending schools was deeply unsettling.”.
Trump was referring to the State Department’s recent abrupt announcement that his administration would no longer fund the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), reversing a policy of support by every American president—Republican and Democrat—since it was created about 70 years ago as a cornerstone of America’s support for stability in the Middle East and flagship of our values to provide for the most vulnerable. Unrwa provides critical services, including education and health care The United States is ending all funding for the UN's Palestinian refugee agency, the US State Department says. © Copyright 2001-2020. The Netherlands, which contributes about $15 million to the agency annually, will suspend payments “until we get satisfactory answers,” Sigrid Kaag, the Netherlands’ minister for international aid, told Netherlands Public Broadcasting station NOS. GENEVA - UNRWA, the U.N. Although those objectives have not yet been achieved, failing to recognize one group’s attachment to the land—or worse seeking to obliterate their emotional connection—will only serve the opposite of the cause of peace and profoundly damage America in the process. Although Jews and Arabs are about of equal number in the Holy Land, in the past decades, Israel has had full control of roughly 90 percent of the land. First published on Fri 31 Aug 2018 13.43 BST.
Are you our next Communication Associate? The importance of UNRWA’s role in maintaining livelihoods for Palestinians affected by the conflict was acknowledged by many of the representatives present. So when UNRWA cuts back services in the impoverished refugee camps in Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, the West Bank, and Gaza, what forces on the ground will fill the void? There, UNRWA provides services to 1.3 million people, spending about 40 percent of its overall budget. “In my opinion, and an opinion that is shared by most international observers, including some Israeli ones, it [UNRWA] is an important factor of stability.”, Hanan Ashrawi, a senior member of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said the US seemed to be following the Israeli government’s “instructions to gradually dismantle the one agency that was established by the international community to protect the rights of the Palestinian refugees and provide them with essential services.”. We have seen it with the Europeans with Nato and we have seen it with Syria as well. Friday’s state department statement complained of UNRWA’s “endlessly and exponentially expanding community of entitled beneficiaries”.
Critics have suggested US threats to cut aid to persuade Palestinians to accept a peace plan is a crude form of leverage. It is unlikely that any agency could provide significantly better quality services for less cost. All rights reserved. In a courageous move, UNRWA decided to open schools on time this past week, with Commissioner-General of UNRWA, Pierre Krähenbühl, stating that “the prospect of over half a million students not attending schools was deeply unsettling.” However, Krähenbühl additionally mentions that a further 217 million USD is still needed in order to keep schools open until the end of the year. The Netherlands and Switzerland have suspended funding of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA.) The announcement comes days after the US said it was withdrawing $200m from its main development agency, USAid, for programmes based largely in Gaza where they help tens of thousands of people. In 2017, despite opposition from some US lawmakers and other officials, the State Department announced it would withhold more than $200 million from UNRWA-administered aid programs in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. What would Israel annexing the West Bank mean? The decision came following accusations of corruption by senior officials at the agency. While some donors like Canada, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates are stepping in to offset part of what the United States is cutting, UNRWA will still likely have to reduce services. Palestinians in the central Gaza Strip refugee camp of Bureij pile sacks of flour outside an aid center run by UNRWA last July. As a result of the move, UNRWA said it was facing a budget deficit of $270 million and urged the international community to help make up for the budget shortfall. © 2020 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. Anyhow, Trump is so unpopular in the West Bank and Gaza that any pressure he applies to the Palestinian leadership only makes them look stronger. Reportedly, the allegations include charges that UNRWA’s top official, commissioner-general Pierre Krahenbuhl, engaged in “ethical abuse,” with other senior management officials being accused of “sexual misconduct, nepotism, retaliation, discrimination and other abuses of authority, for personal gain and to otherwise achieve their personal objectives.”. Even the Israeli military knows that cutting funding for basic services to refugees are a recipe for disaster for Israel. The cut in funding places UNRWA in an unprecedented deficit, resulting from the shortfall of almost 200 million US dollars. However, Krähenbühl additionally mentions that a further 217 million USD is still needed in order to keep schools open until the end of the year. This is clearly a political campaign to pressure [the Palestinians] as well as to save money, and it’s a deadly combination.”. Locking Palestinians in a flawed peace process WILPF Secretary-General, Madeleine Rees, called it “irresponsible,” and a “violation of international law.” The feeling of US bias in favour of Israel has been further exacerbated by the transfer of the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and the recent announcement of the closure of the Palestinian mission in Washington. the US remains the largest individual donor of the agency. UNRWA’s model is broken/unsustainable and based on an endless expanding of beneficiaries.
U.S. We urge a full & transparent investigation by the UN. Through these moves, America has further written itself out of the process of peacemaking in the Middle East. “Trump has said he is going to try and come up with the ‘deal of the century’ between Israelis and Palestinians – and yet he has now recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and cut the funding to UNRWA,” said Bays. The decision came following accusations of corruption by senior officials at the agency. Relief and Works Agency, says it has been able to reduce, but not eliminate a $446 million budget deficit caused by a sharp cut in funding from Washington. “One of the sides feels very strongly now that he is not an honest broker.”. “Palestinian refugees will be affected enormously, as unemployment and poverty will increase in their countries of diaspora,” he told The Media Line. Related Content When contacted by The Media Line, a senior Swiss UN official refused to comment. Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary-general, said on Tuesday he had not been informed of Washington’s decision.
They derive it from international law.
Miller, like many in the foreign policy establishment, argues that there will never be a solution to the Palestinian refugee issue that satisfies Palestinians, but said UNRWA “serves a need” acknowledged by many Israeli officials even as they have campaigned against it.
The agency, which employs some 30,000 people, mostly Palestinians, supports more than five million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, providing funding for health care, education and social services. Khaled Elgindy and Lara Friedman He told VOA he is certain this decision is not related to UNRWA’s performance because senior U.S. officials he met in November had nothing but praise for the work being done by his agency. If the agency is not in a position to provide “vital services” and emergency support it will create a “very very serious problem,” he told reporters. UNRWA spends one-third of all the resources donated to refugees internationally. The roads in the region open to new possibilities. Kraehenbuehl calls Washington’s decision to cut off aid a form of politicization of humanitarian funding, which should have been avoided. August 2018 the United States Department of State released a. announcing the decision to cut all funding from the United States to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). Almost 70 years later, the resolution is yet to be implemented and.
Salah Ajarmeh, a 44-year-old refugee living in Aida camp, had said that “if the services stop, there will be a revolution”. He added that funding cuts to UNRWA would have serious consequences.
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UNRWA reports it has been able to raise $238 million in additional funding from contributors such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Japan, the European Union, and Canada. GENEVA - UNRWA, the U.N. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley on Tuesday appeared to question the world body's count of Palestinian refugees, the latest in a series of steps by the Trump administration challenging how relief aid is delivered to the Palestinians.In remarks at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington think tank often sympathetic to Israel, Haley agreed with a questioner who suggested that the U.N. “This is part of a broader issue with a president who sees every alliance as a transaction. Which countries in Europe might avoid a second wave, and why? Whoever it is, they are unlikely to be America’s friends. This post is adapted from a piece originally published on The Hill.
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