Gazans warn: Protests against UNRWA policies will escalate

The coordinating committee for events commemorating the Nakba called on the UNRWA to respond to the demands of the Palestinian refugees at home and abroad, warning that peaceful protests could be escalated unless the refugees’ legitimate demands are met.

Addressing a press conference the committee held on Monday in front of the agency’s office in Gaza, the committee members called on the agency’s administration to stop dispensing some of the least cost-effective jobs and asked for increasing employment instead of following the merger policy since a lot of institutions need more staff such as schools and clinics.

They asked the agency to improve the health services, return maternity wards to the UNRWA-run hospitals, provide ambulances for the UNRWA clinics, and pay for the costs of the surgeries the refugees need.

The committee members appealed to the agency’s administration to increase the number of the people getting benefit from the relief services in light of the increase in poverty rates among the Palestinian refugees.

They condemned the inspection tours conducted by the agency to the refugees’ houses and said that such behavior violates human dignity, and asked the agency to increase its efforts to end the 10-year blockade imposed on Gaza.