Refugees in many parts of the world as a result of regional conflicts and wars have become a major headache for the United Nations (UN). Long-persecuted Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar in Bangladesh and other places, Afghan refugees in Pakistan, Karen ethnic refugees from Myanmar in Thailand, refugees from Iraq and Syrian refugees in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan are glaring examples of a heavy burden on the United Nations. Today, this writer will concentrate on Palestinian refugees who have been driven by Israel in 1967 out of their ancestral homes.
Apart from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN has established the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine refugees in the near east, the largest humanitarian organisation in Gaza strip. About 300,000 terrified and homeless individuals are being provided with life-saving protection. A 50-day military operation by Israeli defence forces in the Gaza Strip in August this year left 2,256 people including 538 children killed while over 110,000 people were made homeless.
According to statistics prepared by the UNRWA, 400,000 Palestinian refugees are in need of immediate psycho-social support and over 1,000 children suffered severe injuries. This organisation is also looking after the Palestinian refugees in the West Bank, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. Since crisis broke out in Syria, the UNRWA remains committed to providing emergency relief to more than 529,000 Palestinian refugees in Syria and those fleeing to Lebanon and Jordan as well.
We are really delighted to see commitment made by 19-year teenager Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani Taliban attack survivor, to donate her peace price money which was shared between her and Indian child rights activist Kailas Satyarthi, to help students and schools in an especially difficult place in Gaza. "I am donating the funds to the UNRWA, which is performing heroic work to serve children in Gaza in very difficult circumstances. The needs are overwhelming; more than half of Gaza's population is under 18 years of age. They want and deserve quality education and real opportunities to build their future", Malala said.
Meanwhile, the US chapter of the UNRWA has raised over US$3 million fund for its emergency relief work for Palestinian refugees. Presently, there are 750,000 Palestine refugees in the West Bank, 500,000 in Lebanon and 1,203,135 in camps in Jordan. Former Congressman, Dennis Kucinich, who is on the board of the US chapter of the UNRWA and his wife Elizabeth Kucinich have this to say," We look forward to enhancing the message of human unity in America on behalf of Palestinian refugees who face institutionalised violence, military attacks, oppression, and who lack the most basic of human dignities. The UNWRA works diligently to address very real humanitarian needs".
This scribe received a letter a couple of days back from Chairman of the US branch of the UNRWA Ambassador (retired) Philip C. Wilcox Jr seeking financial help to assist the Palestinian refugees. In his letter, the Chairman said the brutal assault the people of Gaza faced this summer was nothing short of a living nightmare, a catastrophe of epic proportions. As the harsh winter sets in, those who survived face potential death again.
In view of destruction and massacre in the Gaza Strip in August ,2014 by Israeli defence forces, the opinion of the world communities is no longer with Israeli warlords. Enough is enough. Majority countries of the world now recognise the state of Palestine. We also appeal to our brothers and sisters who have sufficient money to donate for easing human sufferings in Gaza Strip through the UNRWA for Palestine refugees.
The writer is a retired diplomat from Bangladesh. amjad.21@gmail.com
Sharing the sufferings of Palestinian refugees
Mohammad Amjad Hossain from Virginia, USA | Published: December 28, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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