Brussels, 29/01/2014 (Agence Europe) - On 27 January, the commissioner-general for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Filippo Grandi, stressed the importance of the financial aid provided to his agency. “Our institution needs the financial support of the EU. This is essential for us to be able to continue to exist and work”, he told the European Parliament's foreign affairs and development committees. “The needs get greater every year. The cost of our current activities is increasing and our donors have difficulty keeping up”, he said. Recalling that an agreement will be signed in the coming weeks with the European Commission for the EU's contribution to UNRWA and welcoming this aid, Grandi stated that it “would be good to have bases of more solid assistance so as not to suffer uncertainty at the end of each financial year”. Grandi will come to the end of his mandate in March and he hailed the “exemplary cooperation” that he has with the European commissioners, the high representative of the EU for foreign affairs, and the president of the European Parliament.
In his speech, Grandi returned to the situation of 5 million Palestinian refugees. Recalling that 540,000 Palestinian refugees had been working in Syria before the conflict, he stated that it is very difficult to come to the aid of those who are still in Yarmouk - where 160,000 Palestinians were living before the conflict. “For four or five months now, it has been impossible to conduct the slightest operation in this region. The situation is tragic - malnutrition, disease, and a catastrophic humanitarian situation”. Even if a humanitarian access agreement is signed between the regime and the opposition, “on the ground, it is very difficult to implement it”.
However, the situation in Syria must not lead to the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank being neglected, Grandi warned. “All the indicators are pointing to an emergency - the situation is ever more catastrophic and poverty is skyrocketing”, he said. He called for the lifting of the blockade by Israel, which he described as “collective punishment”. “Security issues cannot mean that we neglect the humanitarian security of a million civilians”, he added. Reiterating that the issue of the refugees is one of the most difficult to resolve in the Middle East peace process, Grandi said that, if the peace negotiations are a success, “my organisation will be crucial for the long and complex transition phase”. “Donor countries must not say that an agreement has been made so there is no more help to be bought. That would be a very serious risk which could lead to the failure of a possible peace agreement”, he warned. (CG/transl.fl)