Feature: Palestinian refugees' concerns grow as UNRWA fiscal crisis reaches peak

Ibrahim Abu Hamed, a Palestinian refugee who lives in Nuseirat Refugee Camp in central Gaza Strip, has been living in deep concerns over his children's future following the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) recently severely cut in its services, mainly education.

UNRWA said it has addressed UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, warning that if it could not get 101 million U.S. dollars to cover the deficit by mid-August. "The financial crisis may force the suspension of services related to the agency's education program," it said.

The agency's warning was made in a press statement emailed to reporters, asserting that it would be obliged to suspend the education services it provides to Palestinian refugees until it covers its fiscal deficit.

"This would mean a delay in the school year for half a million students attending some 700 schools and eight vocational training centers across the Middle East," UNRWA said.

Since UNRWA was founded following the 1948 Palestinian Nakba, or Catastrophe, when Israel was created, it has been providing humanitarian aid as well as medical, educational and sanitation services to Palestinian refugees who live in refugee camps in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.

Escaping from the heavy wave of heat that struck the region and sitting in a chair just outside his 110 square-meter home in a narrow lane in one of the most impoverished refugee camps in the Palestinian territories, Abu Hamed was listening to a small radio, following news on UNRWA's ongoing cuts.

He was listening to Sandra Mitchell, deputy commissioner-general of UNRWA in Gaza, who talked in a news briefing about the financial crisis.

"We want to confirm to the populations here in Gaza that we are doing all our best to get real and enough funding for UNRWA," Mitchell said, but adding that "so far, UNRWA doesn't have enough funding to keep schools open from September until December of this year."

She went on saying that "so far, there is no decision yet to postpone schools opening. The school year hasn't been postponed yet; the only person who decides is the Commissioner General of UNRWA, and we just want to give donors the enough time to send their funds to UNRWA soon."

However, Mitchell ruled out that a decision over postponing school year at around 700 schools run by the humanitarian aid organization will be taken before mid-August.

"Providing education to around half a million Palestinian students and pupils is a responsibility that should have been accomplished," said Mitchell, stressing that "it is impossible to ask our employees to work without retainers (fee). UNRWA is not for sale. We want the international community to fulfill its pledges."

She said that "UNRWA suffers from a severe fiscal crisis, which climbed to 101 million U.S. dollars shortage ... all what we want is to cover this shortage and build up a powerful fiscal base for the future."

The senior UNRWA official also called on the international community to resume its funding to the organization "in order to be able to fund a just and a comprehensive solution to the question of the Palestinian refugees."

Over the past few years, UNRWA has been complaining that it goes through a severe fiscal crisis due to a lack of international funding to the organization.

Palestinian consensus government Premier Rami Hamdallah has reiterated that UNRWA has to keep providing its humanitarian aid in the fields of health and education to all Palestinian refugees. He called on the international community and the donor countries "to fulfill their pledges towards UNRWA."

Abu Hamed, 49, has been living all his life in the refugee camp. He said "UNRWA began to reduce its services for my family since 2008."

"They cut off a sum of money (12 U.S. dollars) I used to earn for every member of my family, and then they cut the food assistance which was containing cans of sardines, tomatoes, beans, as well as flour which was one of the best species but now we find weevils and worms inside it," said Abu Hamed.

He went on saying that "is this not enough for UNRWA? They said they need two weeks to determine the date of school starting, which usually starts on Sept. 1, so we live in depression that we have to wait to know the fate of our kids."

"And now we are suffering too much due to UNRWA services shrunk ... It was better for UNRWA to save money for education and food aid instead of summer camps," he said.

For decades, UNRWA has been responsible for providing health, educational, operational, social and financial services to around five million Palestinian refugees in the Middle East. It said a lack of Arab and international funds and donations is the main reason for its fiscal deficit. Endit