Published : 14-09-2019
The Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Neat East (UNRWA), Pierre Krähenbühl, has urgently called on Arab states for their continued financial and political support to Palestine refugees and to the work and role of the Agency at the Arab League Summit.
Addressing the 152nd session of the Council of Arab Foreign Ministers, Krähenbühl highlighted that the work of UNRWA remains vital, especially as long as there is no just and lasting solution to the plight of Palestine refugees.
He thanked member states of the League of Arab States for their support and asked them to show the same level of commitment to defending UNRWA as has been the case in all previous years, particularly in the run-up to the renewal of the Agency’s mandate in November.
“Over the last eighteen months, we have witnessed severe attempts to delegitimize the Agency and what it does, either by questioning the very basis of our mandate or the definition of who we serve,” said Krähenbühl. “Standing with UNRWA and its services in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Gaza, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan is paramount not only for the human development of Palestine refugees, but also for the preservation of regional stability.”
He said one of the greatest misrepresentations he has come across in the more than 25 years of his humanitarian work is the fact that there is sadly nothing unique in the situation of Palestine refugees, giving rise to successive generations remaining displaced.
The fact is, in conformity with the principle of family unity, children born to refugees, and their descendants, are recognized as refugees by UNRWA and UNHCR under their respective mandates. Refugees from places like Afghanistan, Somalia, Congo, Sudan, etc. have been displaced for decades and their descendants are recognized as refugees by UNHCR and assisted as such, until lasting solutions are found.
The Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Neat East (UNRWA), Pierre Krähenbühl, has urgently called on Arab states for their continued financial and political support to Palestine refugees and to the work and role of the Agency at the Arab League Summit.
Addressing the 152nd session of the Council of Arab Foreign Ministers, Krähenbühl highlighted that the work of UNRWA remains vital, especially as long as there is no just and lasting solution to the plight of Palestine refugees.
He thanked member states of the League of Arab States for their support and asked them to show the same level of commitment to defending UNRWA as has been the case in all previous years, particularly in the run-up to the renewal of the Agency’s mandate in November.
“Over the last eighteen months, we have witnessed severe attempts to delegitimize the Agency and what it does, either by questioning the very basis of our mandate or the definition of who we serve,” said Krähenbühl. “Standing with UNRWA and its services in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Gaza, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan is paramount not only for the human development of Palestine refugees, but also for the preservation of regional stability.”
He said one of the greatest misrepresentations he has come across in the more than 25 years of his humanitarian work is the fact that there is sadly nothing unique in the situation of Palestine refugees, giving rise to successive generations remaining displaced.
The fact is, in conformity with the principle of family unity, children born to refugees, and their descendants, are recognized as refugees by UNRWA and UNHCR under their respective mandates. Refugees from places like Afghanistan, Somalia, Congo, Sudan, etc. have been displaced for decades and their descendants are recognized as refugees by UNHCR and assisted as such, until lasting solutions are found.
