‘My life depends on UNRWA’: Uncertain future for Lebanon’s Palestinian refugees
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00:00 In Burj al-Barajneh Palestinian camp, the suspension of aid from major donors to UNRWA
00:05 is feared to have dire consequences. Ibtisam worries about the future of her family.
00:10 "Thanks to UNRWA's support, I can pay my rent, my bills, my children are schooled for free.
00:20 My whole life depends on UNRWA. Without its help, I would be on the street. My children
00:26 would no longer go to school."
00:29 Due to a lack of budget, UNRWA also risks pausing its employment program, a plan that
00:34 offers temporary jobs to Palestinian refugees within the camps.
00:37 "The UNRWA employment program is a wonderful opportunity for me to work and make money.
00:44 If the agency suspends its grants, our lives and our future will be in danger."
00:48 A crisis with devastating consequences for Palestinian refugees.
00:55 "Will they stop the payment?"
01:00 Speaking to France 24, the UNRWA director in Lebanon sounds the alarm.
01:05 "The government has made it very clear to us that they have no space, neither politically
01:11 nor financially, to step in. If UNRWA falls away, in Lebanon there is nobody who is capable
01:18 and willing to step in, which opens a vacuum, of course, to radicalization."
01:27 The emergency is also health-related. The crisis threatens UNRWA's medical centers.
01:33 In Marliès camp, this clinic risks being shut down by the end of March.
01:38 "Where will the sick go? There is no other center that can take care of them. They will
01:43 run out of medication and be forced to interrupt their treatment. A humanitarian disaster looms
01:49 over our society."
01:52 That day, the center is visited by the ambassador of Norway. His country is one of the few major
01:57 donors that has maintained its aid to the UN agency.
02:01 "UNRWA is important more than ever to support the Palestinian refugee health-wise. We are
02:13 here now in Marliès camp to voice our continued support for UNRWA."
02:23 The risks of UNRWA's collapse are more threatening than ever. In Lebanon, 250,000 Palestinian
02:29 refugees would de facto fall into extreme poverty.
02:32 [MUSIC PLAYING]