Palestinian anger at proposed shake-up of refugee agency

A proposal by the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees to delegate some services to other UN agencies has sparked outrage among Palestinians, who have warned of a plot to “dismantle” the body.

Established in 1949, a year after Israel was created, UNRWA is the only major UN body dedicated exclusively to one conflict and one people, and holds a symbolic role that experts say matches its importance as provider for Palestinian refugees.

The agency has long been a target of Israeli criticism, with accusations it has fuelled the conflict in part by teaching anti-Zionist messages at its schools.

UNRWA is “not just about the delivery of services”, said Muhammed Shehada from the Swiss-based Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor.

“As long as UNRWA is there, it’s a reminder that the international community has a responsibility to solve the issue of Palestinian refugees,” he said.

The agency tasked with assisting Palestinians who were forced from their homes during the war surrounding Israel’s creation – and their descendants – has faced a funding crunch for years, regularly falling tens of millions of dollars short of its stated needs.

At first glance, the announcement last month by agency chief Philippe Lazzarini that UNRWA could ask other UN bodies to help with service delivery may have looked like a bland, bureaucratic cost-sharing plan.

Counting primarily “on voluntary funding from donors would not be reasonable” going forward, he said in a statement.

“One option that is currently being explored is to maximise partnerships within the broader UN system.”

Palestinians saw those remarks as a potentially devastating blow to UNRWA’s long-term mission.

Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said the plan would “violate” the UN resolutions that set up UNRWA, while the Palestine Liberation Organization said refugees would be outraged.

Mohammad al-Madhoun, a senior official with the Islamist group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, described the proposal as “an attempt to dismantle UNRWA as a prelude to ending its work”.

With more than 30,000 employees and a budget of some US$1.6 billion this year, UNRWA is a provider of healthcare, education and other services to some 5.7 million Palestinian refugees spread across the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank as well as in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.

The agency has firmly defended its school curriculum against pro-Israel critics, though Lazzarini told European Union lawmakers last year that problematic issues were being “addressed”.

Agency spokeswoman Tamara Alrifai said that this year would see another US$100 million shortfall that could worsen given “the increased cost of commodities and food that the ongoing Ukraine crisis has provoked”.