{"id":202768,"date":"2009-09-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-12T18:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?p=202768"},"modified":"2019-03-12T18:26:12","modified_gmt":"2019-03-12T18:26:12","slug":"auto-insert-202768","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/auto-insert-202768\/","title":{"rendered":"UNRWA High Commissioner on Palestinians’ 60 years of refugee status – Interview with European Parliament Press Service\/Non-UN document"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

\n

\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n

UN Palestinian refugee chief AbuZayd: "periods of hope have all been dashed"<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

\n

External relations – 11-09-2009 – 12:48 <\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

Karen AbuZayd was appointed in 2005 as Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Karen AbuZayd, the Head of the UN Agency that provides food, health and housing to millions of Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) was at the European Parliament Thursday (11 September). She was there to hold talks with Members of the Foreign Affairs Committee. In an exclusive interview she told us that 60 years of refugees status for the Palestinians is nothing to celebrate, of her concern over Israeli settlements and that "periods of hope…have all been dashed and things have got worse".<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Q. UNRWA marks sixty years of existence this year.  How much cause for celebration is there really? <\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

KA:<\/strong> This is not a celebration at all. One cannot celebrate 60 years of refugees really. It's a sign of things not having gone well in solving the refugee problem because refugees only remain refugees if the political solution is not achieved. <\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

We in the UNRWA say we are commemorating this 60th anniversary and use it as a means to call attention to the fact, firstly, that there are still Palestinian refugees after 60 years and secondly, to call attention to what the refugees themselves have achieved in spite of being refugees. <\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

Q. In November 2008, you described the situation as "extremely bad in Gaza and the West bank and getting worse". A year on, what is the outlook for Palestinians, be they in Gaza, the West Bank or elsewhere?<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

KA:<\/strong> I can say the same thing. We had the Gaza conflict after that. Now we need major building materials in order to reconstruct what has been destroyed but no material is coming in due to the (Israeli) closures. We're spending so much money on job creation to give people work to do, small grants to people with minor damages. One can buy a bag of cement, or glass as small material is coming in small quantities through the tunnels. You can fix your window, as we can fix those of our own clinics or schools but…not the big stuff.<\/p><\/div>\n

\n\n\n
\n

UNRWA<\/strong><\/p>\n