{"id":165202,"date":"2018-10-02T19:39:24","date_gmt":"2018-10-02T19:39:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?post_type=document&p=165202"},"modified":"2018-10-11T15:20:21","modified_gmt":"2018-10-11T19:20:21","slug":"meps-debate-us-decision-to-cut-funding-for-unrwa-european-parliament-press-release","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/meps-debate-us-decision-to-cut-funding-for-unrwa-european-parliament-press-release\/","title":{"rendered":"MEPs Debate US Decision to Cut Funding for UNRWA – European Parliament Press Release"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a non-United Nations document. The United Nations provides these documents only as a convenience for reference purposes, and the inclusion of a document does not imply the endorsement of its content by the United Nations.<\/strong><\/p>\n

02-10-2018\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\"Photo\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>
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The US decision to cut funding for Unrwa was debated by MEPs on 2 October. Photo by EU-ECHO on Flickr CC\/BY\/NC\/ND<\/span><\/h6>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The recent US decision to end all funding for Unrwa, the UN\u2019s agency for Palestinian refugees, was widely condemned in a debate in Parliament on 2 October.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Describing it as \u201cirredeemably flawed\u201d, the United States announced on 31 August it would end all funding for Unrwa, the UN agency for Palestine refugees. During the plenary debate, European Commissioner Johannes Hahn said: \u201cWithout Unrwa and the prospect of a two-state solution, there would just be chaos and violence for both the Israeli and Palestinian people.”<\/p>\n

Established in 1949 to take care of Palestinians displaced by the Arab-Israeli war, Unrwa provides essential services for some five million Palestine refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.<\/p>\n

The US decision was widely denounced by MEPs. GUE\/NGL member and chair of Parliament\u2019s Palestine delegation\u00a0Neoklis Sylikiotis<\/a>\u00a0said: \u201cThere are five million refugees who are now suffering because of the US cuts. Eighty per cent of the people of Gaza depend entirely on Unrwa support.\u201d<\/p>\n

EPP member\u00a0Jos\u00e9 Ignacio Salafranca S\u00e1nchez-Neyra<\/a>\u00a0said: \u201cThis is affecting more than 5.5 million men, women and children whom we can’t simply ignore.\u201d<\/p>\n

“Strong, reliable and predictable”<\/strong><\/p>\n

During the plenary debate, Commissioner Hahn said the EU would continue to be \u201cstrong, reliable and predictable supporters of the agency\u201d. He referred to the\u00a0\u20ac40 million in additional EU funding for Unrwa\u00a0<\/a>announced at the UN general assembly on 27 September. The EU and its member states already provide almost half of the agency\u2019s budget and the overall EU contribution amounts to some \u20ac1.2 billion over the past three years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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What is Unrwa?<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n