Daily Alert Archives

Ending UNRWA and Advancing Peace

(Council on Foreign Relations) Elliott Abrams - Since the end of the Second World War, millions of refugees have left refugee camps, and refugee status, and moved to countries that accepted them as citizens. The children and grandchildren of these refugees were never refugees themselves. However, instead of coming under the protection of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Palestinians had a special agency of their own, UNRWA, the UN Relief and Works Agency. Once there were 750,000 Palestinian refugees, but since all their descendants are considered to be refugees as well, now there are five million people considered by UNRWA to be "Palestinian refugees." UNRWA is now the largest UN agency, with a staff of 30,000. UNHCR cares for the rest of the world with about 7,500 personnel. UNRWA should cease to exist, and Palestinian refugees should be handled by UNHCR with the intention of resettling them. Palestinians who have citizenship in other countries, such as the nearly two million Palestinians in Jordan, should not be considered refugees at all.
2011-12-20 00:00:00
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