Gaza Refugees Protest Against Cuts in UNRWA Food Assistance
GAZA STRIP (Dispatches) – Hundreds of Palestinian refugees closed the UN Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA)’s food distribution centers in Gaza on Sunday to protest against the organization’s reduction in food assistance, Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported.
The protest was organized by the Joint Popular Committee for Palestine Refugees and began on Saturday. The committee said protests would continue until UNRWA reversed its decision.
According to media reports, hundreds of refugees gathered in front of the UNRWA centers at 7 am across the refugee camps in the Gaza Strip.
The refugees raised placards condemning UNRWA’s policies and holding it responsible for the fate of their families, stressing that the reduction of food pushes them into food insecurity in light of increasing rates of poverty and unemployment.
UNRWA officials have said that food coupons were being reduced in value to allow the organization to support a further 100,000 families.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini has said the organization is planning to take more strict measures as a result of the $200 million deficit it is facing.
The Zionist regime has been campaigning to defund the UN agency in an attempt to end the refugees’ right of return. The crisis deepened after former U.S. president Donald Trump decided to cancel funding to UNRWA in 2018.
The vast majority of Gazans are refugees who were kicked out of their towns and villages upon the establishment of the Zionist regime in 1948.
Palestinian refugees who suffered for more than seven decades say UNRWA cuts will only increase their plight amid the Coronavirus pandemic. Over 1.3 million Palestinian refugees live in the Gaza Strip and their hardships have increased under the blockade.
Palestinian refugees say that as long as they are displaced and dispossessed, UNRWA should provide them with all due services without any cuts.
The protest was organized by the Joint Popular Committee for Palestine Refugees and began on Saturday. The committee said protests would continue until UNRWA reversed its decision.
According to media reports, hundreds of refugees gathered in front of the UNRWA centers at 7 am across the refugee camps in the Gaza Strip.
The refugees raised placards condemning UNRWA’s policies and holding it responsible for the fate of their families, stressing that the reduction of food pushes them into food insecurity in light of increasing rates of poverty and unemployment.
UNRWA officials have said that food coupons were being reduced in value to allow the organization to support a further 100,000 families.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini has said the organization is planning to take more strict measures as a result of the $200 million deficit it is facing.
The Zionist regime has been campaigning to defund the UN agency in an attempt to end the refugees’ right of return. The crisis deepened after former U.S. president Donald Trump decided to cancel funding to UNRWA in 2018.
The vast majority of Gazans are refugees who were kicked out of their towns and villages upon the establishment of the Zionist regime in 1948.
Palestinian refugees who suffered for more than seven decades say UNRWA cuts will only increase their plight amid the Coronavirus pandemic. Over 1.3 million Palestinian refugees live in the Gaza Strip and their hardships have increased under the blockade.
Palestinian refugees say that as long as they are displaced and dispossessed, UNRWA should provide them with all due services without any cuts.