January 29, 2024

U.S. and Allies Cut all Aid to United Nations Refugee Agency

In the days following the International Court of Justice’s decision, the U.S., Canada, Britain, and at least seven other countries have cut over $662 million in annual funding to UNRWA. The cuts to UNRWA’s funding, which constitute the overwhelming majority of its current budget, are an impending catastrophe for more than 6 million Palestinians residing in 60 refugee camps in Occupied Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria.

UNRWA, or the United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East, was created in 1949 in the aftermath of the Nakba or catastrophe of 1948. UNRWA’s mandate covers Palestinian refugees exiled in 1948 and in later years, along with their descendants.

The decision to defund UNRWA comes a day after the International Court of Justice’s decision in which the majority of provisional measures requested by South Africa against Israel were granted. This timing is not coincidental. Imperialist powers are seeking to offset the international developments around the ICJ ruling, and prevent aid from entering Palestine.

As a UN agency that conditions its aid on a code of silence around the Palestinian cause, UNRWA is a liberal institution that aims to depoliticize and NGOize the Palestinian struggle. Nonetheless, UNRWA fills a critical if temporary gap in the Palestinian refugee camps, where social services and public infrastructure are in dire condition.

By destroying the UNRWA, imperialist nations are directly attacking the right of return, and trying to force Palestinians in the camps to assimilate into the states they live in. The current attack on UNRWA is a form of collective punishment for Palestinian resistance. We affirm that return is not only our right, but our destiny, and we call on organizations and individuals across the Global North to organize and fight against the defunding of UNRWA.