Jordan Times
Monday, January 26, 2004
Aid agency lauds Jordan's support for Palestinian refugees
Israeli separation wall to affect 200,000 Palestinians, ECHO warns
By Dalya Dajani
AMMAN — A potentially grave humanitarian crisis expected to impact around 200,000 Palestinians as a result of Israel's construction of a controversial “security barrier” has sparked serious concerns among the international community whose own operations are to be affected as a result.Head of the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO) for the Middle East and Mediterranean countries Cees Wittebrood said the 700-kilometre Israeli separation wall has already cast a shadow on the lives of West Bank and Gaza Palestinians.
“We are very concerned about the construction of this wall in view of the humanitarian consequences on thousands of Palestinians whose lives are already fragile as a result of the political conflict,” Wittebrood told reporters Saturday in Amman.
“The barrier, which extends beyond the `green line' — the boundary between Israel and the West Bank — will leave many families without access to schools and health services, and farmers unable to make their livelihood off their land,” he said.
The ECHO official, who was in the Kingdom as part of a regional tour to inspect conditions at Palestinian refugee camps, told reporters an estimated 200,000 Palestinians are expected to be impacted by what Israel calls a “security wall” between Israel the West Bank.
Moreover, the resulting Israeli closures and restrictions on movements around the Palestinian territories are already hampering the delivery of aid and services to the Palestinian population.
Cees said these developments have led to an increase in the cost of ECHO's humanitarian operations in the West Bank and Gaza. He estimated the organisation is spending up to 20 per cent more and attributed that rise to security and bureaucratic obstacles posed by the Israeli authorities.
“We had initially allocated 25 million euros in operational costs for 2003, but the serious developments on the ground have led us to increase this amount to 38 million euros,” said Wittebrood.
To offset some of the impact of the “security fence” on farmers in rural areas, the UN's World Food Programme, with ECHOs support, is implementing a food-for-work project whereby 5,000 families today each receive 85 kilogrammes of food monthly in return for agricultural and rehabilitation work for the benefit of their respective communities.
ECHO has been providing swift humanitarian intervention to the Palestinians territories since the second Intifada, or uprising against occupation, erupted in September 2000.
Around 32.5 million euros in 2003 alone were provided to the West Bank and Gaza populations to improve some of the most vulnerable groups' access to basic and emergency healthcare services as well as provide support for small-scale businesses and employment opportunities.
The future of such outreach, however, may not be as swift under the current developments.
Wittebrood was on a two-week tour inspecting conditions in Palestinian camps in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.
In the Kingdom, Wittebrood visited the Baqaa, Jerash and Sukhneh refugee camps where the European Commission had provided essential drugs and rehabilitated shelters for the most vulnerable.
While UNRWA provides the camp refugees with basic services such as health, education, and sanitation, along with humanitarian assistance from other operational partners, conditions in some of these camps are far from optimal, Wittebrood commented.
Still he said: “Although there are some disparities in the standard of services from one camp to another, living standards and the provisioning of basic services such as health and education are at acceptable levels.
“We are also very pleased to note that unlike Lebanon, Jordan provides large-scale support to the Palestinian refugee population, not only through service provisioning but the fact that these people have the right to find employment outside the camp,” he added.
According to Wittebrood, the “passive policy” of the Lebanese government towards the Palestinian refugee population who are denied access to the local labour market has left this segment stripped of any hope for improvement in their lives.
“[The Palestinian refugees] are isolated in the camp without real access to the labour market or professions that could have a direct impact on their economic welfare,” said Wittebrood.
“I am told by our EU delegation in Beirut that the Lebanese authorities have a policy of ignoring the plight of refugees. It is a deliberate choice to deny Palestinians their basic rights, leaving them even more vulnerable,” he added.
The level of such limitations, according to Wittebrood, include forbidding the refugees from bringing construction materials into the camp to rehabilitate their own homes.
One Palestinian managed to rehabilitate his home by loading his construction and paint materials aboard an UNRWA cargo truck, he said.
The international community had provided a total of one billion euros to assist the Palestinian refugee populations in the Palestinians territories and elsewhere in the Middle East in 2002 and 2003. Half that amount was provided by the EU.
Overall ECHO has provided 118 million euros in aid to vulnerable Palestinians in the territories and elsewhere in the Middle East since the start of the Intifada in September 2000.
Wittebrood left Jordan for the Palestinian territories later Sunday to assess more closely the impact of the barrier on the West Bank populations and inspect living conditions at refugee camps there.
“We will see with our own eyes and listen with our own ears the kind of situation that is developing and are prepared to handle any needs that are raised,” the EU official said.