The cut by several countries in the financing of the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) plunges tens of thousands of people who receive assistance into uncertaintynot only in the occupied territories, but in Middle Eastern countries, especially Jordan.
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“When we heard the news, we thought only one thing: Could the aid be cut off? Could we suffer like the Syrian refugees?”asks one of the beneficiaries of UNRWA services, Abu Omar.who resides in the Yerash Palestinian refugee camp in northern Jordan.
He is one of nearly 2.5 million Palestinian refugees living in Jordan, including 175,000 from the Gaza Strip.who fear the effects of this decision, derived from Israel's accusations against a dozen UNRWA workers of participating in the attack by the Islamist group Hamas, which left more than 1,200 dead in Israeli territory on October 7.
As a result, more than a dozen countries, including the United States, Canada and Italy, have announced the freezing of their financial contribution to the UN agency.
Omar was especially concerned, not because of the repercussions that the cessation of funding could have on the Jordanian office of UNRWA, but because of the background that he believes is hidden behind all of this: that the decision to cut off the financial flow “is aimed at ending the Palestinian refugee and not recognizing him.”
“We are fighting to continue living and preserve the title of a refugee at a time when the international community and Israel should recognize our cause and our right to return,” says Abu Omar.
UNRWA works to provide support, protection and meet the most basic needs of some 5.6 million registered Palestinian refugees in JordanLebanon, Syria, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, but fears it will be unable to move forward if the international community turns its back and runs out of funds for emergency humanitarian assistance in the Palestinian enclave.
Cutting aid violates human rights
The lawyer for the National Center for Human Rights of Jordan, Isa al Maraziq, assured EFE that the suspension of aid to UNRWA violates human rights and those of refugees. and would also affect those guaranteed by international law for these people, such as education and health.
“This decision is a collective punishment aimed at abolishing the definition of Palestinian refugees and canceling their right to return,” said the lawyer, who noted that support for UNRWA had previously been suspended.e during the administration of former US President Donald Trump, although it was resumed during Joe Biden's mandate.
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According to this lawyer, These steps contradict the right guaranteed by the Charter of the United Nations, under the resolution that established the UNRWA Relief Agency in 1949, for those suffering from the “scourges of war.”
Despite everything, the director of the Al Quds Center for Political Studies, Oraib Rantawi, considers that the accusations against UNRWA workers were a reaction by Israel to the decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which asked the Jewish State to avoid a genocide in Gaza.
He considered that Israel is working to liquidate UNRWA in several stages: demonize it, reduce aid and transfer its tasks to the government that assumes administration in Palestine.
UNRWA warned this Monday that, if funding is not resumed, will not be able to continue its services and operations throughout the region, including Gaza, after the end of February.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and the agency's commissioner general, Philippe Lazzarini, confirmed in a phone call that “any funding gap for UNRWAwhich constitutes the main lifeline in the Strip, will immediately affect the agency's ability to provide humanitarian services to Gaza.”
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“It will also cause more suffering to its people,” they detailed after learning that the humanitarian aid that the Palestinians in Gaza have received since the start of the war covers 10% of their needs.
In 115 days of conflict, 26,637 people have died in the Gaza Strip and 65,387 have been injuredin addition to some 8,000 people estimated to be missing under the rubble, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, controlled by Hamas.
Which countries have frozen their contributions?
Total, 16 countries have frozen their contributions to the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), while others are cautious while waiting for the allegations to be clarified.
Among those that have suspended aid are the United States, the first to take this step on Friday and followed by Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Finland, the Netherlands, Austria, Germany, Italy, France, Switzerland, Romania and Japan, as well as like the three Baltic countries.
For its part, the European Commission (EC) stated this Monday that it will take the next decisions in light of the investigation initiated into this case by the UN.
Of the other large donors – with contributions above 10 million dollars per year – only Spain, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Belgium maintain their contributions, the same as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait, which will not adopt measures for the moment, although they will continue to pay attention to the results of the open investigations.
For his part, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has asked the international community not to suspend its support for the agency, since “the alleged horrendous acts of these employees must have consequences,” but there are also “dozens of thousands of people”, about 30,000, who work for it and who should not be penalized.
This request has been supported by twenty of the most important humanitarian NGOs, who warn that if these suspensions are not reversed “we could witness a complete collapse of the already restricted humanitarian response in Gaza.”
EFE
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