Fayez Abu Eid – The Action Group

The decision by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) to reduce working hours and services in Syria has sparked widespread debate within Palestinian camps and communities. Refugee opinions are divided between indifference, anger accusing the agency of incompetence and negligence, and human rights warnings that the move will further jeopardize their situation and deliver the final blow to their cause.
This debate and differing viewpoints unfold within a highly complex humanitarian context. Palestinian refugees in Syria are experiencing one of the most difficult periods since the Nakba of 1948. After more than 14 years of war, accompanied by widespread destruction and bombing of camps, the negative repercussions of this conflict have impacted all aspects of their lives, including the collapse of livelihoods and unprecedented increases in poverty and unemployment rates.
According to UNRWA data, there are approximately 438,000 registered Palestinian refugees in Syria, more than 90% of whom rely on humanitarian aid due to declining income and a collapse in purchasing power. In terms of education, the UN agency operates a network of services in Syria that includes some 100 schools serving tens of thousands of students before the war, in addition to approximately 23 health centers and medical points, alongside emergency relief programs. However, these services have been significantly reduced in recent years due to accumulated financial deficits. The agency estimates that more than 40% of its facilities in Syria have been completely or partially damaged, while a number have been rendered inoperable, particularly in camps such as Yarmouk, Daraa, and Handarat.
On the ground, Palestinian refugees have expressed their anger at the decision to reduce working hours, arguing that it does little to improve the reality of services that they say are already “virtually nonexistent.”
Hassan, a resident of Yarmouk camp, asks, “What cuts are they talking about? We haven’t seen anything from UNRWA in a while,” adding that cash assistance stopped more than a year ago.
Others go even further, arguing that the agency’s continued operation in its current form is meaningless, given clinics lacking medicine and schools suffering from overcrowding and staff shortages.
Meanwhile, activists and refugee experts warn that downplaying the seriousness of the decision carries significant risks. They emphasize that reducing working hours will directly impact the quality of health and education services and UNRWA’s ability to respond to humanitarian emergencies.
Human rights researcher Iyad al-Kurdi believes that “any reduction in working hours practically means fewer patients, delayed treatment, and increased pressure on already overcrowded schools in an environment with no alternatives.”
Human rights advocates argue that the issue is not merely about services, but touches upon the legal and political dimensions of the Palestinian refugee question. According to them, UNRWA is not simply a service provider, but represents ongoing international recognition of the unresolved refugee issue and the right of return stipulated in UN Resolution 194. An international law expert warns that “weakening UNRWA or emptying it of ًsubstance opens the door to alternative approaches that reduce the issue to conditional aid or forced integration, ignoring political and historical rights.”
Several NGOs and human rights organizations issued statements condemning the reduction of services and working hours. They acknowledged the severity of the current international financial crisis and the general decline in humanitarian funding commitments, but stressed that placing the primary burden of the financial crisis on local staff through reduced working hours and accompanying salary cuts represents a structural flaw in crisis management and poses far-reaching institutional risks. UNRWA, as a service-oriented organization, relies primarily on its human resources, not assets or equipment. Among the most significant risks are the erosion of human capital, which forms the backbone of field operations, and the weakening of internal trust between management and staff, negatively impacting operational efficiency. Furthermore, these measures risk transforming temporary austerity into a permanent pattern that gradually erodes the agency’s mandate.
Against this backdrop, the refugees’ positions vary between those demanding radical solutions, such as migration to countries that guarantee basic human rights, and those reaffirming their commitment to the right of return to Palestine as the only solution, while a general feeling of disorientation and hopelessness prevails. One refugee summarizes this reality by saying, “We are stuck between an ineffective agency and a non-existent alternative.”
Amidst escalating public anger and human rights warnings, the decision to reduce UNRWA’s operating hours in Syria appears to be merely a symptom of a deeper crisis that transcends financial considerations and impacts the future of Palestinian refugees and the international community’s role towards them. In the absence of a clear vision for reform or guarantees for the continuation of services, the question remains: Is what is happening a prelude to a genuine solution to UNRWA’s crisis, or a further step in the erosion of the international community’s role towards Palestinian refugees in Syria?

*Related News and Articles*
• UNRWA launches a cleanup campaign in Khan al-Sheikh camp
• 60 Palestinians arrested while leaving Yarmouk camp for Yalda; regime demands a rifle for each person in exchange for their release
•Watch: Action Group camera captures the devastation left by the earthquake in southern Turkey
• Action Group calls for the release of Palestinian detainees and disclosure of their fate
•On the International Day of Persons with Disabilities: Palestinian Syrians with special needs suffer neglect and disregard.