BICOM

Jordan’s Foreign Minister has called for increased political and financial support from the Arab world to make up the $200m shortfall in the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) budget.

In a joint press conference yesterday with UNRWA Commissioner-General Pierre Krahenbuhl, Jordan’s Foreign Minister, Ayman Safadi, called for an emergency meeting of Arab foreign ministers next month to rally support for the agency. He is also planning a meeting next month in New York on the side-lines of the UN General Assembly.

“Any shortage in funding will drive hundreds of thousands towards deprivation and despair,” said Safadi. He added: “The continuation of UNRWA means continued commitment by the international community to work towards a just solution of the refugees that guarantees the right of return and compensation.”

Krahenbuhl said that no country can wish away 5.3 million Palestinian refugees. “These are people who have rights and for many years now, for decades have faced a plight and injustice that is simply immense. As long as a just and lasting solution has not been found to the Israel-Palestine conflict we will continue to implement the mandate that the General Assembly has given us,” he added.

In 2017 the US and UK gave a combined total of approximately $440m to UNRWA. The total donations of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE to UNRWA in 2017 was approximately $65m.

According to Israeli news site Hahadashot, the US will announce in September that it no longer recognises inherited Palestinian refugee status, a core element of UNRWA policy since its creation.

A US State Department official said that although the Trump administration “is not planning to provide a numerical calculation or definition of a ‘legitimate’ Palestinian refugee,” it does not believe the UNRWA model is appropriate or sustainable. He also said the issue of ‘Right of Return’ is still a final-status issue for negotiations, but that the US is evaluating alternatives for “an equitable resolution of all refugee issues”.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Malki has said Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will present an alternative to an as-yet-unannounced US-led peace plan, which will be based on a “multilateral international mechanism” that would negate the US’s traditional role in the peace process.