Palestinians in Lebanon fear US aid cut will shut UN schools
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCED IN JANUARY IT WOULD SLASH FUNDING TO UNRWA
When the teacher asked the English class how to change a sentence from the active to the passive voice, Sarah’s hand shot up from the front row, and as soon as she was called upon she answered correctly.
The ten-year-old Palestinian girl has come a long way since she arrived in Lebanon after fleeing Syria’s civil war five years ago, and is now a star student at an elementary school run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, which also provides trauma counselling.
But those services, and the thousands of children who rely on them, now face an uncertain future, as the US threatens to cut funding at a time when the UN agency is struggling to cope with crises across the region.
Sarah’s family is descended from some of the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled or were expelled from what is now Israel during the 1948 war surrounding its creation.
The refugees and their descendants now number more than 5 million, and mostly reside in the occupied West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Sarah’s family, who asked that their last name not be published because of safety concerns, became refugees a second time when they fled their Damascus home after it was hit by a rocket in 2013.
In Lebanon, they enrolled Sarah at Jafna Elementary School, which is operated by UNRWA, the oldest and largest UN relief programme in the Middle East.
The agency provides health care, education and social services to millions of refugees, including those displaced a second time by the Syrian civil war and other regional unrest.
The Trump administration announced in January it was slashing its aid to UNRWA, withholding $65 million of a planned $125 million funding instalment.
It released $60 million so the agency wouldn’t shut down, but made clear that additional US support would be contingent on major reforms at the agency.
Israel accuses UNRWA of perpetuating the conflict by promoting Palestinian claims to a right of return, while President Donald Trump has blamed the Palestinians for the lack of progress in Mideast peace efforts.
Other countries responded by pledging $100 million in new funding this year, but UNRWA still faces a $350 million shortfall. “If the financial crisis continues, there are no guarantees that we will be able to start next year’s school year,” said Salem Dib, UNRWA’s chief education programme officer in Lebanon.
Significant shortfall
“There are dangers regarding continuity of education for all Palestinian refugees, whether they are from Lebanon or from Syria.”
Some 36,000 students, including nearly 5,500 who were displaced from Syria, are studying at 66 UNRWA schools in Lebanon. Dib said it is difficult for Palestinians to enroll in public schools, which are already overcrowded with Syrian refugees.
Last month, international donors pledged an estimated $4.4 billion in humanitarian aid for Syria and neighbouring countries this year, falling significantly short of the more than $7 billion the United Nations is seeking.
Growing hostility
At the same time, refugees in Lebanon face growing hostility from political parties that support the Syrian government, which made gains in Lebanese parliamentary elections earlier this month and have called for the Syrian refugees to return home.
Sarah’s parents hope their daughter can get a scholarship to study outside Lebanon, allowing the family of five to move somewhere safer. “If my children leave school, they’ll be lost,” her mother Fatima said.
Despite everything she has been through, Sarah is excelling in school. She loves learning English and dreams of being a cardiologist.
Samah Khalil, who counsels students, says many of the children suffer from trauma that makes it difficult for them to study or interact with others — but Sarah was able to recover fast. “Sarah is a special student, she is the best in her class and she is loved by her classmates. She is great in every aspect.”
Mary Joy Pigozzi, the executive director of Educate A Child, which provides psychological counseling in UNRWA schools, says EAC has worked hard to foster the skills that young people need to become future leaders.
“Like Sarah, some of these children have had to overcome many difficult situations, which makes it even more important that we prioritize their educational opportunities,” she said. “Access to quality education is a human right.”