Saudi Arabia reaffirms support for Palestinian refugees

United Nations, Nov 11: Saudi Arabia has reaffirmed its continued support for the Palestinian refugees and UNRWA, the UN body that looks after their welfare.

The Kingdom's reassurance came during a speech delivered by its permanent representative at the United Nations, Abdullah Al-Muallimi, at an UNRWA committee meeting

“The Kingdom is honored to stand by the side of the Palestinian people stemming from its religious and humanitarian duty until the Palestinians achieve their legitimate right to live in freedom, dignity and have access to all their legitimate and inalienable rights. In this domain, the Kingdom highly appreciates the fundamental role of the UNRWA’s humanitarian care for more than 5 million Palestinians,” Al-Muallimi said.

He said Saudi Arabia continued to top the list of major donors to UNRWA, alongside the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom. This year, the Kingdom has contributed some $100 million.

The Kingdom has been an active member of the UNRWA Advisory Commission since 2005 and provides advice and assistance to the commissioner general in the scope of implementation of his mandate.

He said the Kingdom made a donation of $59 million through the Saudi Development Fund to UNRWA for the education, health and housing projects to be implemented in Gaza, the West Bank and Jordan.

The donation was made through three agreements signed in London on Feb. 4. The first agreement worth more than $40 million will go to support the ongoing projects in Gaza, including more than 600 houses for Palestinians who had their homes destroyed during the Israeli assault on Gaza, along with maintenance of three schools. The second agreement worth $8 million will go to finance the maintenance of nine UNRWA schools and 10 health centers in Jordan. While the third agreement worth more than $7 million will provide funding for rebuilding, equipping and furnishing of three health centers in the West Bank, said the ambassador.

Al-Muallimi said Saudi Arabia has donated $10 million through the Saudi Development Fund to build a larger base and supply depot in Rafah. This will serve as the main UNRWA warehouse for storing basic food and non-food items, and also to support the distribution operations through 12 distribution centers throughout the Gaza Strip, he added.

“This project is part of a comprehensive project signed between UNRWA and the Saudi Development Fund in May 2015 to rebuild and renovate residential units and supply warehouses, and to support the health and education sectors in the Gaza Strip with a total value estimated at $62 million. Construction of the supply depot is expected to be completed in 2017 and will be operational with a crew of about 200 people, including UNRWA staff members and persons who will work on job-creation issues.”

Saudi Arabia also contributed approximately $2 million to build a health center in Aqabat Jaber Camp located in the Jordan Valley to meet the necessary health needs of Palestinian refugees in the camp within a safe environment. This center was opened on Oct. 28, and will benefit more than 14,000 camp residents, said the ambassador.

He said: “We stress our full support for UNRWA’s humanitarian goals and to continue its work to alleviate the tragedy of the Palestinian people and reduce their suffering until the return of the displaced to their home country, and give them the necessary compensations for the extensive damage they suffered during the past decades in accordance with Resolution 194 of the General Assembly.”

“We therefore support the efforts to address the root causes of this crisis and stop the forced and chronic displacement of the refugees through ending the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory and the rest of the Arab lands, and that Israel withdraws to the 1967 borders, and makes progress toward implementing the two-state solution,” Al-Muallimi added.