Ireland allocates additional millions to controversial UN aid organisation outside

15 feb 2024 om 14:54

Ireland has allocated €20 million to the United Nations Palestine Refugee Agency (UNRWA). Spain also issued more money this month. Several countries suspended financial aid due to suspected involvement of a number of dismissed UNRWA employees in a Hamas attack in Israel.

The Netherlands is one of the countries that withdrew its support for the United Nations after the organization itself expelled a number of its employees due to their possible involvement in the Hamas attacks last October 7. Israel accused them of this. UNRWA expects to complete the internal investigation in early March.

A week and a half ago, European Union foreign policy coordinator Josep Borrell called for not stopping aid to UNRWA. This would be “disproportionate and dangerous” because many Palestinians depend on emergency aid. He added that stopping funding puts “the lives of hundreds of thousands of people at risk.”

Sigrid Kaag, UN emergency aid coordinator for the Palestinians, stressed that UNRWA is indispensable at the present time. Relief and human rights organizations are deeply concerned and speak of “collective punishment” of Palestinians in Gaza.

Nearly two million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip depend on humanitarian aid because they were forced to leave their homes due to Israeli attacks. The health care system has collapsed and much of the basic infrastructure has been destroyed. Food and water are scarce.

“UNRWA is in fact a lifeline for the Palestinians,” Marjon Rozema, spokesperson for the human rights group Amnesty International, previously told NU.nl. He added: “The moment all aid is frozen, all the people in Gaza, who are already in bad shape, will be at greater risk. This is irresponsible.”

Less humanitarian aid is already entering, partly because Israel is blocking many aid supplies on the border with Egypt.

Ireland calls for resumption of financial support

Belgium has indicated that it will not stop financial aid, and Spain has released an additional $3.5 million to support the Gaza Strip.

Irish Foreign Minister Michael Martin (Foreign Affairs) calls on the countries that suspended their funding to resume it. In addition to the Netherlands, this also concerns the previous largest lenders: the United States and Germany.

Wat doet het UNRWA?

Het UNRWA is in 1949 opgericht, na de eerste Arabisch-Israëlische oorlog. De organisatie levert diensten zoals onderwijs, basisgezondheidszorg en humanitaire hulp aan Palestijnen in Gaza, de Westelijke Jordaanoever, Jordanië, Syrië en Libanon. Tijdens de huidige oorlog biedt het UNRWA onder meer hulp en bescherming aan mensen die op de vlucht zijn.

UNRWA is grotendeels afhankelijk van vrijwillige donaties. Het opschorten van betalingen aan de VN-hulporganisatie heeft dus verregaande humanitaire gevolgen.

Brian Rodriguez

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