U.N. Palestinian refugee agency decries Swiss move to cut funding

Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber
Wed, December 13, 2023

Global Refugee Forum, in Geneva

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By Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber

GENEVA (Reuters) - The head of the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA)

 denounced a move by Switzerland to cut aid as the Gaza Strip faces a humanitarian crisis described as apocalyptic by the United Nations.

Speaking at the Global Refugee Forum in Geneva on Wednesday, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini deplored the agency's "chronic underfunding", a day after he expressed disappointment in the Swiss initiative.

"Despite our successes, UNRWA suffers from chronic underfunding which impacts the quality of our services," he said.

"Upholding refugees' rights is not only the responsibility of humanitarian and development actors, it is a responsibility ... shared with donors and host countries," he added, without mentioning the Swiss move.

Switzerland's National Council, the lower house of the Federal Assembly, approved cutting an annual contribution of 20 million Swiss francs ($22.83 million) to the agency by 116 to 78 votes on Monday. The initiative's author, who was part of a parliamentary delegation that visited UNRWA earlier this year, has argued that the agency lacked objectivity.

The upper house is scheduled to assess the initiative on Thursday. Both houses have to approve for the proposal to be put into effect.

"As a country that leads on international humanitarian law, I am disappointed in this decision to cut aid to the largest and most active humanitarian agency on the ground in Gaza today," Lazzarini wrote on X on Tuesday.

Lazzarini - who said last month he believed there was a deliberate attempt to strangle UNRWA's operations - said that the agency's capacity to do its work in the Palestinian enclave was on the verge of collapse.

Other U.N. bodies deplored the Swiss move. Filippo Grandi, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, said he hoped Switzerland and other countries would continue funding UNRWA.

"If UNRWA goes away and is not funded, the Palestinians that have already been so tragically penalized by history will be even more penalized," Grandi said.

Weeks of Israeli bombing, in response to a deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas militants, have internally displaced 85% of Gaza's population. More than 130 UNRWA staff have also been killed since the start of the conflict on Oct. 7.

Established in 1949 following the first Arab-Israeli war, UNRWA provides services including schooling, primary healthcare and humanitarian aid in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.

(Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Editing by Nick Macfie)