Essam Yousef calls to establish new body to manage refugee affairs

The head of the Global Committee to Support Gaza, Dr. Essam Yousef, has called to establish a new body to manage the administrative and political affairs of Palestinian refugees with the support of Arab and Islamic countries.

Yousef said in a press conference that the recent cuts in the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) budget has directly affected the refugees lives which necessitates looking for alternative bodies to prevent the outbreak of a new crisis.

Yousef explained that the recent cuts in UNRWA’S budget has recently resulted in dismissing hundreds of employees and the suspension in the provision of basic services.

He pointed out that UNRWA is currently used as a pressure card to extort the Palestinian people and force them to make concessions, abandon their basic rights and liquidate their national cause:

“The role of this new organisation should include providing the necessary basic services to refugees, like education and health, as well as provide political support to protect the Palestinian constants, especially the right of return.”

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Yousef stressed that the establishment of an organisation with full agreement and coordination between Arab and Islamic countries will provide a safety net for millions of Palestinian refugees and prevent donor countries from controlling the size of financial allocations provided to them for political considerations.