Following a significant financing shortfall, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees’ chief stated it was unable to pay its 28,000 employees on time this month, threatening to withdraw crucial services to millions of people in the face of a global epidemic.
For millions of registered Palestinian refugees across the Middle East, UNRWA runs schools, clinics, and food distribution programmes, primarily for the descendants of Palestinians who were forcibly displaced from their towns and villages in what is now Israel in the run-up to its establishment in 1948.
In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip, as well as Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon, the 5.7 million refugees dwell in camps that have been transformed into built-up but frequently destitute residential districts.
The reinstatement of US help for UNRWA this year – which had been delayed by the Trump administration – was countered by a fall in money from other donors, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini told reporters in Jordan on Tuesday.
In 2019, the agency faced a leadership crisis after its previous chief resigned over claims of sexual misconduct, nepotism, and other abuses of authority.
Staff went on strike on Monday after learning that their payments would be delayed last week, but the strike was called off after mediation, according to Lazzarini.
“If UNRWA health services are compromised in the middle of a global pandemic, COVID-19 vaccination rollout will come to an end. Maternal and child care will stop, half a million girls and boys not knowing if they can continue learning, and over two million of the poorest Palestinian refugees will not get cash and food assistance,” he said.
“The humanitarian needs of Palestinian refugees keep increasing while funding to the agency has stagnated since 2013.”
At a recent conference in Brussels, Lazzarini said the agency secured enough funds to cover up to 48 percent of its budget in 2022 and 2023. It also raised $60 million to cover a $100 million shortfall until the end of the year, allowing services to continue.
“I’m still not yet in a position to say when the November salaries will be paid,” he said.
Critics of UNRWA, particularly Israel, accuse it of prolonging the 73-year refugee situation, arguing that host countries should bear the brunt of the burden.
The Palestinians claim that the refugees and their descendants have a “right of return” to their homes in what is now Israel, a claim that is backed up by the host countries. Israel rejects this, claiming that if such a right were completely applied, the country would be dominated by Palestinians.
