Brussels Conference on Syria: UNRWA Urges Inclusion of Palestine Refugees in the Humanitarian Assistance – Press Release

Arabic: العربية

15 June 2023, BRUSSELS

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Director of Partnerships Karim Amer urged participants at the VII Brussels conference on “Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region” to include Palestine Refugees in their humanitarian assistance.

After 12 years of conflict, COVID-19, the socio-economic crisis and, most recently, the earthquake, Palestine Refugees in Syria are increasingly vulnerable.

UNRWA Director of Partnerships Karim Amer said: “UNRWA provides essential services like education, healthcare and psychosocial support – to some 438,000 Palestine Refugees who remain in Syria and 50,000 Palestine Refugees who have fled to Jordan and Lebanon. The majority of them live in dire poverty and rely on the Agency’s cash and in-kind food assistance to meet their basic needs.”

This year, UNRWA requires US$ 436.7 million to secure emergency humanitarian assistance to Palestine Refugees affected by the conflict in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan through its Emergency Appeal. The Appeal remains significantly underfunded, with only 16 per cent of required funding received.

“UNRWA calls for the inclusion of Palestine Refugees in the humanitarian response in Syria and the region to continue our crucial services and avoid any further deterioration in their living conditions. We urgently need to rehabilitate UNRWA schools and health centres for those who return to their camps amidst debris and rubble due to their inability to pay rent outside,” Mr Amer added.

The devastating earthquake that hit the region in February affected almost 50,000 Palestine Refugees. UNRWA issued a flash appeal outlining requirements for US $ 16.2 million to fund the emergency and early recovery response, with US$ 5 million still required.

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Notes to the Editors

• UNRWA runs 102 schools in Syria, where nearly 50,000 girls and boys receive quality education. The Agency operates 23 health-care facilities and provides almost 809,500 annual patient visits.
• Since the start of the conflict in 2011, several UNRWA installations inside Syria including schools and health centres, have either been totally destroyed or sustained severe damage. Forty per cent of UNRWA classrooms were lost and almost 25 per cent of the Agency’s health centres are currently unusable.
• About 40 per cent of Palestine Refugees in Syria remain in protracted displacement. Yarmouk, Dera’a and Ein el Tal camps, previously home to more than 30 per cent of Palestine Refugees, have been almost completely destroyed.
• Despite the lack of basic infrastructure for the provision of safe water supplies and electricity, as of June 2023, 1,300 vulnerable Palestine refugee families (about 4,420 individuals) have returned to Yarmouk camp. Around 126 extremely vulnerable families (about 558 individuals) have returned to Ein el-Tal camp (near Aleppo) and a further 682 families (about 3,395 individuals) to Dera’a camp in the south.