The UN renewed the mandate for the UNRWA on 16 Nov,2019. What does that mean?
It means that for the next three years there will be no action taken to change the status of about 5 and a half million people who are identified as “Palestinian refugees”. I’ve written about this before. I believe it is ridiculous in the extreme to have Palestinian refugees given “preferential” treatment which other refugees handled by the UN High Commissioner on Refugees don’t get. For example; UNRWA does NOT have to make any effort to resettle them or get them out of their “temporary” camps. It means that their children and children’s children will inherit the refugee status even though they never even set foot in any place that might be called “Palestinian” land, and it means that maintaining these people, of whom about 1.5 million live in abject poverty, is paid for by donations from UN member states and organizations. That maintenance includes providing schools,medical care, and some measure of sustenance. That last item is a well known scam in which no refugee ever dies and his ration card is sold to Arab profiteers who collect the UN provided supplies and sell them for a great profit.
During the past year several countries have stopped contributing to UNRWA because of these problems. Among those who have stopped giving funds to UNRWA are the USA, Holland, New Zealand, Belgium and Switzerland. Many of the actual problems are listed in a report that was given to the Secretary General last year. It appears that he has been to busy to read it. There has been, to my knowledge, no statement from his office relating to this report.
Many “Palestinian” refugees have been able to escape from their former status by fleeing from the Syrian civil war. As refugees from that conflict they fall under the purview of the UN High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) and can then be resettled elsewhere. Their brethren in Gaza, Lebanon, and most areas under the civil control of the Palestinian Authority are not so fortunate. They remain condemned to an existence of hopelessness as political pawns in the hands of the Arab leaders in their areas. It should be noted that Israel resettled ALL 1948 Arab refugees that were within territory she controlled within a short time after the 1949 Cease-Fire agreements. UNRWA does not function inside Israeli territory.
In humanitarian terms, UNRWA does provide minimal aid to many who would otherwise have no schools and no medical treatment. But the main reason for that is that the Arab political leadership in those places where the “refugees” live has steadfastly refused to provide such care as long as it can be obtained via UNRWA.
It is long past the time when UNRWA should have been disestablished and those under its care transferred to the UNHCR.
Wetherhorn 