Trump administration has announced to end aid to the United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA), the organization that works for Palestinian refugees.
Heather Neuret, the spokesperson of the State Department, told media that administration had carefully reviewed the issue and decided not to make any further contribution to UNRWA as it was “irredeemably flawed.”
Why the US Cut Aid to UNRWA
Apart from calling the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency flawed the statement from the State Department also criticized other countries for not contributing to reforming the organization’s way of doing business.
The United States’ pullback from UNRWA is also reportedly a response to the anti-US sentiments among Palestinians that rose after Trump’s pro-Israel policies like shifting of US embassy to Jerusalem. Members nations of the United Nations security council had vetoed the Trump’s decision of shifting the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
Response to US Decision of Cutting Aid to UNRWA
Trump’s administration’s decision of ending aid to UNRWA is facing criticism from many factions.
Secretary-General of PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization), Saeb Erekat, opined that the US violated International Law by cutting aid. He furthered his point by saying that UNRWA was not a Palestinian Agency, but the United Nations’s organization. It was an international obligation to assist this organization until Palestine’s problems were solved.
He also criticized Trump’s pro-Israel policies by saying that people may argue that it is up to the US taxpayer to decide how to spend their money. But, at the same times who gave Trump the right to steal his freedom, aspirations, and land by blindly supporting Israel. Erekat’s statement came hours before the US State Department announced cutting off the aid to the UN agency that helps Palestinian refugees.
The response of the Agency to Decision
UNRWA spokesperson Gunness said in a Twitter threat that UNRWA had a strong record of providing quality education, health, and other services to Palestinian refugees. He also wrote that agency had expanded its donor base and get support. And, it had also taken measures to cut the costs and increase efficiency.
https://twitter.com/ChrisGunness/status/1035744060504506369
https://twitter.com/ChrisGunness/status/1035744481524572160
Along with Saudi Arabia, UAE, EU and other countries, the United States has been a major contributor of financial assistance to the UN’s agency that helps Palestinian refugees. The United States’ pulling out of it will help it difficult to arrange finances and consequently do go for the betterment of the needy people.
UNRWA, despite shortcomings, is a critical source of stability in the Middle East. It runs schools, health centers, provides food. Reckless decision that will be devastating for civilians (especially kids, as schools will have to be shuttered). https://t.co/7S506TN9VS
— Samantha Power (@SamanthaJPower) August 29, 2018
The agency offers health education and shelter to not only millions of refugees from Palestine 
but also to the people from war-torn areas like Syria who are registered as the refugees.
