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UNRWA will have no money by the end of the month, official says

September 13, 2017 at 9:26 am

Arab League meeting in Cairo, Egypt, on 12 September 2017. [Pierre Krahenbuhl /Twitter]

UNRWA’s Commissioner-General Pierre Krahenbuhl announced yesterday that his organisation is facing a $126 million deficit this year and will have no money by the end of this month.

During a speech he delivered at the headquarters of the Arab League in Cairo, Krahenbuhl called for the Arab countries to “strongly” support UNRWA to be able to maintain its “vital” and “important” role in serving 5.3 million Palestinian refugees.

He called for the regional partners to renew and increase their contributions, stressing on the importance of the Arab League and UN decisions to the retention of his organisation and to maintain the issue of the Palestinian refugees alive.

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Meanwhile, he expressed his anger over the situation of the Palestinian refugees in the Middle East, who are suffering more poverty and pain.

“I have seen the pain, destruction and displacement of the Palestinian refugees in the Syrian Aleppo repeated,” he said. “I have also seen the massive pains and exclusion of the Palestinian refugees in Ein Al-Hilweh in Lebanon,” he added.

He continued: “I have also seen the daily consequences of Israeli occupation on Palestinian refugees in Al-Jalazoun Refugee Camp in the West Bank and the disastrous conditions of the refugees in the Gaza Strip.”