Jericho, 12/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 5 April, the director general for Palestine's crossing points and borders, Nazmi Mhanna, called on the EU to help the Palestinian Authority more with the crossing points in the West Bank. His call was welcomed by the head of the European EUBAM Rafah mission, Natalina Cea.
While the mission was established in 2005 to help the Palestinian Authority have effective control in Rafah, it has been on hold since 2007 with the arrival of Hamas in power in Gaza. The mandate of this EU mission, which was launched as part of the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), was nevertheless renewed with a view to a re-opening of this border-post with Egypt. While waiting, the mission's main activity is preparing a joint deployment plan. Its budget for 2016 is €1.2 million.
The idea of extending the mission's mandate is supported by the Palestinian Authority. “We can extend the partnership that we already have with the EU”, Mhanna assured at a meeting with a group of journalists, including from EUROPE, who were visiting Jericho. “I'm going to ask Brussels not to be our partner only at Rafah, but at all the crossing points for trade in the West Bank”, he said, stating that he will do this during his visit to Brussels in May. “We have nothing and we need everything”, he said, going on to say “we are a small, new state (so) we need equipment, machines, tools and experience”.
The Palestinians would like to be able to check the quality of goods arriving on their territory. They criticise the fact that these products are often damaged or can be dangerous, and that checks only take place once these goods have arrived on their territory.
“It's clear that there is a conflict between the mandate (Ed: of EUBAM Rafah) and what the Palestinian authorities need”, Cea stated. “If we support the administration of customs at Rafah, why not do this at the other crossing points”, she said. There are six crossing points for trade in the West Bank. As part of the ongoing strategic review of the mission, she suggested extending the mandate, but without expecting a major change in objectives and the mission's configuration to be decided. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)