UNRWA – who’s a refugee?
In an earlier post I noted problems inherent in the creation of UNRWA. This time I will address the question of who is eligible for UNRWA aid. The original resolution that created the agency envisioned it as a temporary provider of humanitarian assistance. It was dependent upon the various host countries to provide places for the establishing camps to house refugees and assist the agency in other ways, like making allowances for the transport and distribution of aid. The idea of resettling the refugees, and thereby terminating their need for aid, was implicit in the original resolution. But then it got bogged down in political and legalese difficulties. UNRWA, itself, is not a political organization. The political element came from the host countries. Israel took responsibility for the refugees within its borders. UNRWA ceased operations there in 1952. Most of the refugees were Muslim. Lebanon was concerned about granting them any kind of rights that looked like citizenship because it might upset the Christian Muslim demographic balance that was the ore of its existence as an independent entity separate from Syria. Egypt controlled the Gaza strip and allowed UNRWA work there, but refused to allow any refugees cross the recognized international border into Egypt proper. Jordan had a fragile economy and could not afford to take the same steps that Israel had taken. And then there was the problem of a sovereign Arab state.
The Israelis had a sort of shadow government that was ready to deal with the problems of the local population. The Arabs in Palestine had no such organization. No one had prepared a local infrastructure to handle health, education, housing, or even the supply of water, electricity, sewage and garbage collection. Some of this was dealt with by Egyptian and Jordanian military authorities in areas controlled by their respective armies. They were happy to let UNRWA deal with this, especially since it was paid for by other countries.
Who would be accepted as a recipient of UNRWA aid? One of the first activities of UNRWA was to register people claiming refugee status and to house them in camps on sites provided by the host countries. The conditions for registration originally included residence in a camp, and a claim that those registering had been living in Palestine since 1946. The second condition allowed thousands of families who had immigrated to Palestine from Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and other Arab countries to acquire Palestinian nationality with the stroke of a pen. British authorities had always kept a close watch on Jewish immigration to Palestine, but it seems the British thought all Arabs looked alike and there was no such attention paid to people who came from neighboring areas because there were better economic opportunities under British rule. One of the best critiques of this is Roberta Peters book “From Time Immemorial”. For the purpose of this brief background it is sufficient to note that of the nearly 700,000 registered refugees, it is likely that over three quarters of the adults were born outside the borders of Palestine. Today we see people fleeing violence and famine in Syria, Iraq, Sudan, and other countries. Many of them are escaping persecution. Many are also simply looking for a better place to live. They are definitely in need of humanitarian assistance. The question raised is how should that aid be administered? I will discuss in a future post.
Wetherhorn 