UNRWA schort distributie in Gazastrook op

 

Gaat de economische crisis ook aan UNRWA niet voorbij?

Je zou denken dat het 'budget tekort' van UNRWA komt doordat sponsors (vooral het Westen) bezuinigen op de hulp. Daarover kan ik echter niets vinden.

Onder het persbericht staat als toelichting:

Financial support to UNRWA has not kept pace with an increased demand for services caused by growing numbers of registered refugees, expanding need, and deepening poverty. As a result, the Agency's General Fund (GF), supporting UNRWA’s core activities and 97 per cent reliant on voluntary contributions, has begun each year with a large projected deficit. Currently the deficit stands at US$ 67.2 million.

Daarom is men per 1 april overgegaan op minder contant geld uitdelen en in plaats daarvan proberen mensen aan een (gedeeltelijke) baan te helpen.

Een strukturelere oplossing zou zijn het stimuleren van geboortebeperking om de overbevolking in de Gazastrook in te dammen, maar dat is vloeken in de kerk c.q. moskee.

 

De groeiende hulpvraag staat natuurlijk ook niet los van de (inmiddels sterk beperkte) Israelische en Egyptische blokkade en de militaire confrontaties zoals afgelopen november, maar ook die zijn voor het grootste deel het eigen Hamas regime en de Palestijnse terreurgroepen aan te rekenen.

 

Elder of Ziyon tenslotte neemt in een tweede artikel hieronder UNRWA zelf op de hak, dat steeds Israelische acties hekelt maar zelf bij de eerste schermutselingen haar diensten opschort.

 

Wouter

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UNRWA suspends Gaza distribution

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4364327,00.html

Reuters

Published:

04.05.13, 08:19 / Israel News

 

UN humanitarian agency for Palestinians suspending operations in Gaza Strip after demonstrators angered by aid cutbacks storm headquarters

 

The main UN humanitarian agency for Palestinians said on Thursday it was suspending operations in the Gaza Strip after demonstrators angered by aid cutbacks stormed its headquarters.

Some 800,000 Palestinians, two-thirds of Gaza's population, depend on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and the shuttering could exacerbate hardship caused by Israeli and Egyptian controls on the isolated enclave's borders.

Related stories:

• US to count Palestinian refugees
• UN's Palestinian refugee camps to get facelift
• Op-ed: The UN’s refugee machine

 

Citing budget shortfalls, UNRWA said it had suspended some of its cash handouts and that this provoked violent protests this week, culminating in Thursday's breach of its Gaza headquarters.

"What happened today was completely unacceptable: the situation could very easily have resulted in serious injuries to UNRWA staff and to the demonstrators. This escalation, apparently pre-planned, was unwarranted and unprecedented," Robert Turner, head of the agency's Gaza operations.

"All relief and distribution centers will consequently remain closed until guarantees are given by all relevant groups that UNRWA operations can continue unhindered," he said in a statement.

Gaza security officials had no immediate comment.

Turner said that despite the trimming of cash disbursements, UNRWA's food distribution in Gaza "will continue unchanged"

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UNRWA shuts down in Gaza because of riots. The irony is lost on them. 

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.nl/2013/04/unrwa-shuts-down-in-gaza-because-of.html 

 

From UNRWA:

Demonstrators today stormed the compound of the UNRWA Gaza Field Office in response to a programme cut necessitated by budget shortfalls. The incident is a dramatic and disturbing escalation in a series of demonstrations that have taken place over the past week.

Commenting on today’s escalation and demonstrators breaking into UNRWA’s compound, the Gaza Director stressed that the Agency “respect people's right to peaceful demonstration but what happened today was completely unacceptable: the situation could very easily have resulted in serious injuries to UNRWA staff and to the demonstrators. This escalation, apparently pre-planned, was unwarranted and unprecedented". "These demonstrations affect our ability to provide much needed service to the Palestine refugees in Gaza and—because they also targeted the Gaza headquarters building—our operations in the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria."

Demonstrations during the past week had already forced UNRWA to close many of its facilities. With the situation further compounded by today's actions, all relief and distribution centers will consequently remain closed until guarantees are given by all relevant groups that UNRWA operations can continue unhindered. "This is a very regrettable situation for us to be in, as food distributions right now are taking place for some 25,000 refugees every day. But we cannot tolerate these ongoing threats to our staff: their safety is of crucial concern at the moment," added Turner. "Any other affected installations will also remain closed."

UNRWA calls on all the groups behind today's event to immediately stop inciting crowds at these demonstrations and to conduct themselves in a responsible manner.

For years, UNRWA condemned Israel for closing the crossings to Gaza in response to deadly rocket fire and other attacks. The idea that Israeli citizens have the right to safety and security did not cross their minds - to them, Israel providing services to Gazans was more important than the mere lives of Israelis.

But when their own facilities get violently attacked - and not with anything approaching deadly force, from what we can see - UNRWA immediately shuts down their own services to the very people they are tasked with helping, forever. 

Just a little more UNRWA hypocrisy.