IMEU Institute for Middle East Understanding
The situation continues to be dire for Palestinians: 95% of Palestine refugees in Syria are dependent on humanitarian aid and 65% of young Gazans are unemployed. Pierre Krähenbühl, head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), discussed their plight with Parliament's foreign affairs and development committees on 13 June, calling on the international community to work towards a credible political solution for the problems of the Middle East.
on June 17, 2016
“I had a homework assignment to do so I brought my books,” she says. It was 1948 and the newly declared state of Israel was at war with its neighbors. Aboud’s father thought it was better to head north for a few days and wait for the fighting to blow over. She was 9. The family crossed into Syria and waited.
on January 4, 2016
It was nearly Christmas, and some 200 children ran and competed with one another in bright sunshine as their parents watched the playground and chatted. The hosts of this holiday event were Palestinian Christian residents of a small, cramped refugee camp clinging to a rocky hillside here overlooking the Mediterranean Sea north of Beirut.
on December 22, 2015
After the horrific terror attacks in Paris and Beirut and the downing of a Russian jetliner over the Sinai, as many as 31 US governors said Syrian refugees were unwelcome. By contrast, President Barack Obama called on world leaders to continue to accept refugees, saying that many “are victims of terrorism themselves.” We agree.
on December 4, 2015
“UNRWA is shocked by the upsurge in violence that has affected Palestinian and Israeli civilians and the pattern of deadly force against Palestinians,” says commissioner-general. “Palestinian refugees today feel more left behind” than ever, the head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees said on Tuesday.
on November 10, 2015
Palestinian pensioner Zahra Zahroura always imagined seeing out her days in her adopted Syrian hometown of Homs, sustained by the hope that being made a refugee once was enough for any lifetime. But as the war in Syria worsened the 84-year-old was forced to flee a second time, aiming for a new life in mainland Europe but making it only as far as Cyprus, lucky to be alive at all.
on September 10, 2015
The stark conditions afflicting millions of displaced Palestinians across the Middle East risk destabilizing the region and plunging it into a deeper humanitarian and security crisis, the head of the United Nations agency assisting Palestinian refugees has warned.
on June 17, 2015
Last week, Israel announced with massive fanfare that it was dispatching a rescue crew to Nepal to assist with earthquake relief efforts. Israeli media touted the news that the Israeli military had deployed some 250 medical personnel, one of the largest teams sent by any country, rescuing as many as 2,000 of their own citizens and setting up a field hospital to treat locals.
on May 8, 2015
The U.N. Security Council is calling for $30 million in emergency aid to help Palestinian refugees in the embattled Yarmouk camp in the Syrian capital. The council called for unhindered humanitarian access and protection of civilians inside the U.N. camp, now mainly controlled by Islamic State militants following heavy fighting this month.
on April 20, 2015