UNRWA appeals for over $800m for Syria, Palestine

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) launched its US$ 817 million emergency appeals for Syria and the occupied Palestinian territories on Thursday.

The majority of the estimated 450,000 Palestinian refugees in Syria are displaced and 95 percent of them rely on UNRWA for assistance, UNRWA said.

Thousands remain trapped in areas of active conflict, where they face appalling suffering, it added.

Tens of thousands have fled to Lebanon and Jordan where, despite the generosity of host countries, they face increasing marginalization and despair.

Palestinian refugees are exposed to the lasting consequences of an occupation now approaching 50 years and a decade-long blockade, which define every aspect of their lives.

While in the year 2000, roughly 80,000 people in Gaza were reliant on humanitarian assistance, the figure has risen to over 830,000 today, according to UNRWA.

In the West Bank, settlement building activity has left many thousands at risk of forced displacement and dispossession, it concluded.

Source: MENA