Published : 08-10-2020
Palestinian activists said charges of corruption and lack of transparency allegedly made by Palestinian refugees from Syria regarding UNRWA’s aid distribution mechanisms in Jordan are counterfeit and groundless.
The activists said UNRWA has recently conducted a probe into similar claims and found no corruption proofs into the Agency’s financial policy in Jordan.
The activists said such claims were not made by Palestinian refugees from Syria but by holders of Jordanian passports who had lived in Syria.
They added that the Agency’s social researcher is not responsible for setting eligibility criteria for cash grants. The United Nations has given instructions that holders of Jordanian passports be given a sum of 52 Jordanian dinars and holders of Palestinian-Syrian travel documents a sum of 82.
A few days earlier, over 50 Palestinian refugee families from Syria in Jordan have called for an urgent financial probe by the United Nations into UNRWA’s distribution of cash aid allotted to Palestinians from Syria in Jordan.
In letters emailed to AGPS, the families spoke out against the apathy maintained by UNRWA staff in Jordan regarding their appeals for urgent and increasing cash aid, slamming the Agency’s staff member in charge of their file of discrimination and lack of transparency.
They further denounced the vulnerability assessment mechanisms implemented by the Agency’s field researcher who determines eligibility criteria following field visits paid to the refugee families.
The refugees also said that a number of UNRWA staff members have been misappropriating refugees’ cash grants and that some deceased persons’ allowances continue to be mysteriously shelled out.
The number of PRS in Jordan has remained relatively stable for a number of years, with 17,343 PRS recorded with UNRWA as of December 2019. Of these, 349 reside in King Abdullah Park (KAP), facing movement restrictions and a number of protection concerns.
Since the opening of Jabeer-Al Nassib border between Syria and Jordan, in October 2018, UNRWA has registered the return of 624 PRS inpiduals to Syria. As of November 2019, of those returnees, some 227 inpiduals were displaced again to Jordan for a range of reasons, including the unstable security situation in Syria, problems with civil documentation, lack of economic resources and livelihood opportunities, and high levels of destruction of homes and property.
A Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability Assessment conducted by WFP in 2018 indicated that the majority (67 per cent) of PRS were food-insecure or vulnerable to food insecurity. Twelve per cent of PRS female headed households were found to be food insecure compared to seven per cent of male-headed households. Food insecurity was even higher (78 per cent) in PRS households where the head of household was reported to be completely illiterate. Eighty-six per cent of surveyed PRS households were also reported to be in debt.
Palestinian activists said charges of corruption and lack of transparency allegedly made by Palestinian refugees from Syria regarding UNRWA’s aid distribution mechanisms in Jordan are counterfeit and groundless.
The activists said UNRWA has recently conducted a probe into similar claims and found no corruption proofs into the Agency’s financial policy in Jordan.
The activists said such claims were not made by Palestinian refugees from Syria but by holders of Jordanian passports who had lived in Syria.
They added that the Agency’s social researcher is not responsible for setting eligibility criteria for cash grants. The United Nations has given instructions that holders of Jordanian passports be given a sum of 52 Jordanian dinars and holders of Palestinian-Syrian travel documents a sum of 82.
A few days earlier, over 50 Palestinian refugee families from Syria in Jordan have called for an urgent financial probe by the United Nations into UNRWA’s distribution of cash aid allotted to Palestinians from Syria in Jordan.
In letters emailed to AGPS, the families spoke out against the apathy maintained by UNRWA staff in Jordan regarding their appeals for urgent and increasing cash aid, slamming the Agency’s staff member in charge of their file of discrimination and lack of transparency.
They further denounced the vulnerability assessment mechanisms implemented by the Agency’s field researcher who determines eligibility criteria following field visits paid to the refugee families.
The refugees also said that a number of UNRWA staff members have been misappropriating refugees’ cash grants and that some deceased persons’ allowances continue to be mysteriously shelled out.
The number of PRS in Jordan has remained relatively stable for a number of years, with 17,343 PRS recorded with UNRWA as of December 2019. Of these, 349 reside in King Abdullah Park (KAP), facing movement restrictions and a number of protection concerns.
Since the opening of Jabeer-Al Nassib border between Syria and Jordan, in October 2018, UNRWA has registered the return of 624 PRS inpiduals to Syria. As of November 2019, of those returnees, some 227 inpiduals were displaced again to Jordan for a range of reasons, including the unstable security situation in Syria, problems with civil documentation, lack of economic resources and livelihood opportunities, and high levels of destruction of homes and property.
A Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability Assessment conducted by WFP in 2018 indicated that the majority (67 per cent) of PRS were food-insecure or vulnerable to food insecurity. Twelve per cent of PRS female headed households were found to be food insecure compared to seven per cent of male-headed households. Food insecurity was even higher (78 per cent) in PRS households where the head of household was reported to be completely illiterate. Eighty-six per cent of surveyed PRS households were also reported to be in debt.
