New Israeli travel restrictions on aid workers in the West Bank could have a profound impact on the UN agency for Palestinian refugees’ (UNRWA) humanitarian work and endanger the lives of many Palestinians, said Commissioner-General of UNRWA Karen Koning AbuZayd, urging donor countries to provide badly needed funds for the aid agency.
The fighting in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared in north Lebanon, the destruction of the camp as well as the deteriorating situation in Gaza and the West Bank have eaten into UNRWA’s budget, AbuZayd said at a press conference on 19 November ahead of an international conference of donors and refugee host countries to be held in Amman.
"The services UNRWA provides are the building blocks of peace, tolerance and democracy - part of the very pillars on which a two-state solution might be founded. While my agency stands ready to live up to this vision, let me underline that in order to do so, we need the freedom and the resources to deliver," said AbuZayd.
The aid agency is expected to face a US$88 million deficit in its budget this year, according to Mattar Saker, UNRWA spokesman.
UNRWA estimates the battle between the Lebanese army and the Islamic militant group Fatah al-Islam destroyed or rendered uninhabitable as much as 85 percent of homes in the camp and ruined infrastructure.
Last June, UNRWA launched a global appeal for US$12.7 million in an effort to raise funds to meet the humanitarian needs of more than 27,000 Palestinians in Nahr al-Bared refugee camp to provide them with food aid, shelter, emergency health, water, sanitation and security.
Travel restrictions to hit UNRWA finances
During the press conference AbuZayd also spoke about the controversial Israeli measure to control the movement of people and goods entering or leaving the West Bank.
She said UNRWA had been notified of six terminals that will be built in the West Bank through which humanitarian workers and materials will have to pass.
"My fear is that the financial implications for UNRWA will be severe. Indeed, our initial assessment suggests that if the regime as we understand it is imposed, this could lead to a more than three-fold increase in the cost of service delivery next year," said AbuZayd.
She warned that the measures could indirectly lead to “a sense of isolation and abandonment accompanied by an increase in radicalism among the refugees”.
"I fear that increased restrictions on humanitarian workers and supplies will inevitably bring about a further decline in our ability to deliver services. If access, already badly curtailed, is further reduced, the scaling down of humanitarian assistance and a reduction in the quality of these services will be unavoidable."
AbuZayd said Palestinian communities were already reeling under de facto sanctions, the Barrier and international closure, and she urged the international community to help UNRWA have easy access to its targets.
The Israeli view
However, Shlomo Dror of the Israeli Ministry of Defence told IRIN in Jerusalem on 20 November: "We don't think the terminals will impact the delivery of humanitarian aid. They should not make it more expensive or affect quality either. The terminals are meant to organise Palestinian movement into and from Israel. This will allow for a better, more comfortable and more professional security check. This is the main purpose of the terminals."
During UNRWA’s two day conference in Amman, officials from Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon will be discussing means to improve services provided to Palestinian refugees.
UNRWA is a relief and human development agency created by the UN after the 1948 war between the Arab countries and Israel. It provides education, health care, social services and emergency aid to over 4.4 million refugees living in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
mbh/ar/cb
The fighting in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared in north Lebanon, the destruction of the camp as well as the deteriorating situation in Gaza and the West Bank have eaten into UNRWA’s budget, AbuZayd said at a press conference on 19 November ahead of an international conference of donors and refugee host countries to be held in Amman.
"The services UNRWA provides are the building blocks of peace, tolerance and democracy - part of the very pillars on which a two-state solution might be founded. While my agency stands ready to live up to this vision, let me underline that in order to do so, we need the freedom and the resources to deliver," said AbuZayd.
The aid agency is expected to face a US$88 million deficit in its budget this year, according to Mattar Saker, UNRWA spokesman.
UNRWA estimates the battle between the Lebanese army and the Islamic militant group Fatah al-Islam destroyed or rendered uninhabitable as much as 85 percent of homes in the camp and ruined infrastructure.
Last June, UNRWA launched a global appeal for US$12.7 million in an effort to raise funds to meet the humanitarian needs of more than 27,000 Palestinians in Nahr al-Bared refugee camp to provide them with food aid, shelter, emergency health, water, sanitation and security.
Travel restrictions to hit UNRWA finances
During the press conference AbuZayd also spoke about the controversial Israeli measure to control the movement of people and goods entering or leaving the West Bank.
 Photo: Hugh Macleod/IRIN  |
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"I fear that increased restrictions on humanitarian workers and supplies will inevitably bring about a further decline in our ability to deliver services." |
| Karen Koning AbuZayd, Commissioner-General of UNRWA |
She said UNRWA had been notified of six terminals that will be built in the West Bank through which humanitarian workers and materials will have to pass.
"My fear is that the financial implications for UNRWA will be severe. Indeed, our initial assessment suggests that if the regime as we understand it is imposed, this could lead to a more than three-fold increase in the cost of service delivery next year," said AbuZayd.
She warned that the measures could indirectly lead to “a sense of isolation and abandonment accompanied by an increase in radicalism among the refugees”.
"I fear that increased restrictions on humanitarian workers and supplies will inevitably bring about a further decline in our ability to deliver services. If access, already badly curtailed, is further reduced, the scaling down of humanitarian assistance and a reduction in the quality of these services will be unavoidable."
AbuZayd said Palestinian communities were already reeling under de facto sanctions, the Barrier and international closure, and she urged the international community to help UNRWA have easy access to its targets.
The Israeli view
However, Shlomo Dror of the Israeli Ministry of Defence told IRIN in Jerusalem on 20 November: "We don't think the terminals will impact the delivery of humanitarian aid. They should not make it more expensive or affect quality either. The terminals are meant to organise Palestinian movement into and from Israel. This will allow for a better, more comfortable and more professional security check. This is the main purpose of the terminals."
During UNRWA’s two day conference in Amman, officials from Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon will be discussing means to improve services provided to Palestinian refugees.
UNRWA is a relief and human development agency created by the UN after the 1948 war between the Arab countries and Israel. It provides education, health care, social services and emergency aid to over 4.4 million refugees living in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
mbh/ar/cb
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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