by Frank Musmar
UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, was created in 1949 via UN Resolution 302 (IV) with a short-term mandate. It flouted its original mission and perpetuated rather than alleviated the Palestinians’ status as refugees.
Commissioner-General of UNRWA Pierre Krähenbühl, UN photo by Jean-Marc Ferré
BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,336, November 5, 2019
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: UNRWA, the UN agency
for Palestinian refugees, was created in 1949 via UN Resolution 302 (IV)
with a short-term mandate. It flouted its original mission and
perpetuated rather than alleviated the Palestinians’ status as refugees.
It has long since become corrupt and functions essentially as a front
group. The UN should close it down, and Palestinian refugees should be
integrated into the economic systems of the countries that sheltered
them.
In December 1949, in the wake of the 1948
Arab-Israeli war, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) was
established by the UN through Resolution 302 (IV) to “carry out in
collaboration with local governments the direct relief and works
programmes” for the rehabilitation of the Palestinian Arab refugees, and
to “consult with the interested Near Eastern Governments concerning
measures to be taken by them preparatory to the time when international
assistance for relief and works projects is no longer.” In fact, not
only has the agency failed to accomplish this goal, but it has
functioned instead as a de facto anti-Israel front group and a fig leaf for Palestinian intransigence.
UNRWA has prolonged rather than resolve the plight
of Palestinian refugees. Worse, by encouraging the Palestinian fixation
on the “right of return” – the standard euphemism for the destruction
of Israel via demographic subversion – it impedes negotiations for a
permanent peace agreement. The agency should be eliminated and the
responsibility for Palestinian refugees shifted to the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), like other post-WWII refugee groups
throughout the world.
Not for the first time, the UN Office of Internal
Oversight Services is currently investigating UNRWA’s top management for
abuses of power, including sexual misconduct, nepotism, bullying, and retaliation. The Swiss, Dutch, and Belgian governments have all suspended payments to UNRWA while the investigation is ongoing.
UNRWA’s top official, Commissioner-General
Pierre Krähenbühl, was accused of appointing as an adviser a woman with
whom he was romantically involved. The pair traveled on business class
flights across the globe. Deputy Commissioner-General
Sandra Mitchell was accused of bullying and of manipulating the system
to find a well-paid job for her spouse, Robert Langridge, who was
promoted. Chief of Staff
Hakam Shahwan was accused of behaving like a thug, placing people loyal
to him in positions of power, and lobbying to take over UNRWA
operations in Jerusalem.
Perhaps not surprisingly in view of the above, the agency has adopted a culture of secrecy about itself. It employs about 30,000 people (compared to the UNHCR’s 11,000 for the rest of the world’s 17 million refugees and displaced persons). Most of its staff are Palestinians and many are known members of Hamas (indeed, Hamas membership helps one get a UN job
on the West Bank). Peter Hansen, UNRWA’s former Commissioner-General
(1996–2005), admitted in an interview with CBS TV that there are Hamas
members on the UNRWA payroll. For example, the chairman of UNRWA’s
Palestinian workers’ union, Suhail al-Hindi, is a member of Hamas’s new
political leadership.
Retired IDF Col. Yoni Fighel, a former military
governor in the territories, notes that as long as UNRWA employees are
members of Hamas, they are going to pursue the interests of that
organization within the framework of their job.
The agency was threatened with closure after the Trump administration
implemented severe cuts following reports that proved rockets had been
hidden inside UNRWA schools. UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who
sat on the ethics findings for months, claims he is “committed to acting
swiftly on the corruption allegations.”
The UN originally made clear that UNRWA’s mandate would be short-term, indicating
that the refugee issue should be solved expeditiously through
repatriation or resettlement. In the words of former UN
Secretary-General Trygve Lie, “The refugees will lead an independent
life in countries that have sheltered them. Except for the “hardcore”
cases, the refugees will no longer be maintained by an international
organization as they are at present. They will be integrated into the
economic system of the countries of asylum and will themselves provide
for their own needs and those of their families.”
Palestinian residents of Arab states—all of whom are considered refugees by UNRWA—should become citizens of those states, as they are in Jordan.
Source: https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/close-down-unrwa/
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