21 aid groups object to US halt on Palestinian aid

WASHINGTON: The leaders of 21 humanitarian aid groups wrote to the Trump administration on Wednesday to object “in the strongest terms” to a decision to withhold US$65 million (RM252.5 million) in planned contributions to the United Nations agency that serves Palestinian refugees.

The United States State Department last week said Washington would withhold US$65 million it had planned to pay the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), saying it needed to make unspecified reforms.

The leaders of the aid groups warned of “dire consequences” if the cut was maintained, according to the letter.

“We are deeply concerned by the humanitarian consequences of this decision on life-sustaining assistance to children, women and men in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and the West Bank and Gaza Strip,” the letter said.

In the letter, Eric Schwartz, president of Refugees International and former US assistant secretary of state for population, refugees and migration, said comments by US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley aimed to punish Palestinian political leaders and force them to make political concessions.

“But it is wrong to punish political leaders by denying life-sustaining aid to civilians. This is a dangerous and striking departure from US policy on international humanitarian assistance, which conflicts starkly with values that US administrations and the American people have embraced,” he said.