Employees at UNRWA in West Bank protest at the dismissal decisions

The employees dismissed from their jobs at the UNRWA started on Monday a sit-in in front of the agency’s offices in the various governorates of the West Bank to protest at the dismissal decision against them.

The Agency’s administration has dismissed 114 employees in the West Bank, while there are 850 others threatened with dismissal.

The protesters expressed their rejection of the dismissal decision, stressing that “the existence of a financial crisis does not justify dismissing employees in such harsh conditions experienced by the Palestinian people.”

The refugee camps’ committees in the northern West Bank said in a statement that the camps decided to take escalatory steps after the agency has recently released several resolutions; including dismissing 130 employees, reducing the fixed budget of the Health Section and increasing the percentage of the patient’s contribution to 40% for some treatments and cases of emergency.

They added that they have sent several messages demanding the non-implementation of the recommendations of the departments’ managers in the relief agency and the cancelation of the dismissal of employees, but they have received no reply.

The camps’ committees decided to carry out escalatory steps throughout the week, including closing the offices of the camps’ directors in all the refugee camps, waging sit-ins in front of the UNRWA’s offices, and blocking the movement of all vehicles belonging to the agency.