Miseries pile up following strike by UNRWA in West Bank
The disastrous consequences of an ongoing strike by UN Relief and Work Agency’s 3,600 employees in the West Bank are showing in the health and education sectors and other services provided by the UNRWA for the million Palestinian refugees in the West Bank.
UNRWA sources say that the employees union in the West Bank has been on strike for two months, demanding a pay hike. But the agency is in a challenging financial situation and cannot raise wages.
The UNRWA’s services have stopped and the camps are littered with waste, sparking fears and warnings of disease outbreaks.
Raed Amira, media spokesman for the UNRWA staff union in the West Bank, said they went on strike to achieve an increase in the number of employees to fill vacancies, the conversion of temporary and daily-wage workers into contractual staff, the reduction of the number of working days in health clinics from six to five, and a $300 increase in wages due to inflation.
On April 12, UNRWA called on the union to end the strike without proposing any solutions.
In a Ramadan message, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini called on the agency’s staff to halt the strike, saying: “The strike in the West Bank deprives more than 900,000 refugees of vital services, and this means that more than 40,000 children are not in school.”
As many as 46,000 people with non-communicable diseases are not receiving medicines and the most vulnerable and needy refugees are not getting referral services.
Taysir Nasrallah from Balata Refugees Camp told Arab News that patients were now buying their medicines from private clinics, garbage was piling up in the streets and students were not going to schools. He called on UNRWA to respond to pay hike demands if there were sufficient funds.
For years, UNRWA has suffered from major financial crises, which have dented its ability to provide services.
Adnan Abu Hasna, consultant and media spokesperson for UNRWA, told Arab News that UNRWA would suffer from an estimated deficit of $75 million by the end of 2022 as several donor countries have informed it they will reduce their support to the agency.
“UNRWA recognizes the right of its employees and is open to discussing an increase in their salaries and the services provided to refugees, but it does not provide the necessary funds,” Abu Hasna told Arab News.
The agency fears that if it agrees to increase the salaries of its 3,600 employees in the West Bank, its 30,000 employees in the Gaza Strip, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon will demand the same increase, which will lead to its financial collapse.
The UNRWA spokesman said the agency’s financial situation is “hazardous” and does not allow for increased salaries.
“UNRWA is not a state, it lives on begging, and the world has changed, and UNRWA and the Palestinian cause are no longer a priority,” Abu Hasna told Arab News.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian government held the UNRWA management responsible for the strike and the cessation of services in the Palestinian camps.
It said the continuation of the strike would not be accepted.
The UNRWA’s services have stopped and the camps are littered with waste, sparking fears and warnings of disease outbreaks.
Raed Amira, media spokesman for the UNRWA staff union in the West Bank, said they went on strike to achieve an increase in the number of employees to fill vacancies, the conversion of temporary and daily-wage workers into contractual staff, the reduction of the number of working days in health clinics from six to five, and a $300 increase in wages due to inflation.
On April 12, UNRWA called on the union to end the strike without proposing any solutions.
In a Ramadan message, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini called on the agency’s staff to halt the strike, saying: “The strike in the West Bank deprives more than 900,000 refugees of vital services, and this means that more than 40,000 children are not in school.”
As many as 46,000 people with non-communicable diseases are not receiving medicines and the most vulnerable and needy refugees are not getting referral services.
Taysir Nasrallah from Balata Refugees Camp told Arab News that patients were now buying their medicines from private clinics, garbage was piling up in the streets and students were not going to schools. He called on UNRWA to respond to pay hike demands if there were sufficient funds.
For years, UNRWA has suffered from major financial crises, which have dented its ability to provide services.
Adnan Abu Hasna, consultant and media spokesperson for UNRWA, told Arab News that UNRWA would suffer from an estimated deficit of $75 million by the end of 2022 as several donor countries have informed it they will reduce their support to the agency.
“UNRWA recognizes the right of its employees and is open to discussing an increase in their salaries and the services provided to refugees, but it does not provide the necessary funds,” Abu Hasna told Arab News.
The agency fears that if it agrees to increase the salaries of its 3,600 employees in the West Bank, its 30,000 employees in the Gaza Strip, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon will demand the same increase, which will lead to its financial collapse.
The UNRWA spokesman said the agency’s financial situation is “hazardous” and does not allow for increased salaries.
“UNRWA is not a state, it lives on begging, and the world has changed, and UNRWA and the Palestinian cause are no longer a priority,” Abu Hasna told Arab News.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian government held the UNRWA management responsible for the strike and the cessation of services in the Palestinian camps.
It said the continuation of the strike would not be accepted.
