UNRWA and BIMKOM to launch report on Bedouin communities relocated by Israel – Joint press invitation

UNRWA/BIMKOM JOINT PRESS INVITATION

UNRWA and BIMKOM launch groundbreaking report on Bedouin communities

relocated by Israel, determines their situation is unsustainable

24 May 2013

East Jerusalem

On 28 May 2013, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and BIMKOM – Planners for Planning Rights will launch the al Jabal report, an unprecedented study on Bedouin communities relocated by Israel since 1997.

The first study of its kind about the transfer of 150 Palestine refugee Bedouin families against their will in 1997, the report determines that their situation has become socially and economically “non-viable.” The joint UNRWA-BIMKOM report analyzes the consequences of the relocation plan that was implemented to make way for the expansion of  the Ma’ale Adummim settlement, which, like all West Bank settlements is considered illegal under international law.

The study highlights the deterioration of the social and economic status of the Bedouin refugees in al Jabal village to which they were transferred. Being forced to move to one central urban location close to the largest rubbish dump in the West Bank has deprived these mobile pastoralist communities of social cohesion and is destroying their traditional culture and their economic base.

Your presence is highly welcomed.

Date & Time: Tuesday, 28 May 2013, 11:00 am

Location: Al Jabal village – Bethany (Eizariya) east of Jerusalem. Enter Eizariya  from the Ma’ale Adummim round-about and proceed to the first round-about. Go left and proceed straight until you reach a mini round-about. Go left (towards entrance to Municipal Dump) but then take the first left into al Jabal and then the first left once inside the village which will take you to the Village Council building.

Background information:

UNRWA is a United Nations agency established by the General Assembly in 1949 and is mandated to provide assistance and protection to a population of some 5 million registered Palestine refugees. Its mission is to help Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank and the Gaza Strip to achieve their full potential in human development, pending a just solution to their plight. UNRWA’s services encompass education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, and microfinance.

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$ 66.9 million.

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