Why do Palestinian refugees have a separate refugee agency?

[Oodiks]

Why is it that all other refugees come under the protection of the UNCHR and are resettled in another country if they cannot return home, but UNWRA keeps Palestinians in camps all over the Middle East and they are never offered the chance to resettle in their host countries?

UNRWA forms the ideological infrastructure of the Palestinian forever war against Jews being sovereign in ANY part of the land and the war cannot end if there is such an organisation that records refugees -some who are citizens of a country - and demands that they return to Israel.

Advocating for a Palestinian ‘right of return’ keeps the conflict going from generation to generation.

Palestinians have no ‘right of return’ to Israel.

You know full well a map exists, but just in case:

You know that's inaccurate propaganda, right?

Well no, because they've moved on. Which was, I thought, the basis for this thread

Why is Palestine treated differently

No one had given a good reason for the "why"

For starters, the whole area was under Ottoman control until it came to an end in 1922. Maybe we should give it all back to the Ottoman empire (now sortof Turkey)?

Hardly surprising I didn't answer someone vaguely waffling about wanting me to accept Israel's responsibility for the situation in Gaza.

I was asking you why you were lying about infrastructure not being built in Gaza when clearly it has been built multiple times and destroyed by Israel multiple times. What was the purpose of you omitting that fact and pretending that nothing was ever built or worse pretending that Israel built it and Palestinians destroyed it.

Actually on second thoughts I don't actually care why you chose to ignore the truth in your posts. I don't even know why I came back to this thread. My point was clear.

Thankfully most of the world are appalled at Israels attempts to shut Unwra down in the same year that they have killed more women and children than any other conflict in decades. Look at the EUs latest statement on Israels draft legislation. They understand the importance of unwra and are committed to it's existence.

The EU urges the Israeli authorities to ensure that UNRWA is allowed to continue carrying out its crucial work in line with its mandate adopted by the UN General Assembly. UNRWA provides essential services to millions of people in Gaza, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and across the region, including Lebanon, Syria and Jordan and is a pillar of regional stability. It also plays a fundamental role in ensuring the conditions on the ground for a credible pathway towards the Two-State solution.

The EU is a firm supporter of the United Nations and the multilateral and rules-based global governance system of which UNRWA, as a UN agency, is a part. The EU is committed to continuing its support to the Agency.

Glad you mentioned East Jerusalem.
Why is UNWRA a problem in East Jerusalem?
Let’s explore why UNWRA are in East Jerusalem.

After the six day war Israel effectively annexed East Jerusalem and its surroundings, applying law and administration to these areas. Among the annexed Palestinian villages was Shuafat refugee camp. As a result, Shuafat’s residents effectively fulfilled their demand of return by becoming residents of Israel.

Now as legal residents of Israel they have the right to settle anywhere they want in the country, including the town they or their ancestors came from. Furthermore, they can apply for citizenship on the grounds of proving their desire “to live at peace with their neighbours” the complete fulfilment of return from the Palestinians own extreme interpretation of Resolution 194.

The refugees who have become residents of Israel have acquired in practice the ability to return. Given this, UNWRA could have announced that it had no more business within the boundaries of Jerusalem and refused to register the refugees in East Jerusalem and their tens of thousands of descendants as refugees.

Yet UNWRA made no such announcement and the inhabitants of Shuafat refugee camp, who for the most part were born after 1948 and after 1967 annexation of Jerusalem, remain registered Palestinian refugees.

So, you can be a refugee when you are a citizen of another country and you can be a refugee when you are a resident of Israel.

@Alwayslookonthe Furthermore, they can apply for citizenship on the grounds of proving their desire “to live at peace with their neighbours” the complete fulfilment of return from the Palestinians own extreme interpretation of Resolution 194.

That's interesting. I didn't know this. How many successful applications for citizenship has their been?

Annexation and compelled assimilation into an occupying/annexing country is generally considered not to be a good thing. Putin's efforts to do this in Ukraine have rightfully met with international condemnation.

If Putin, Ben-Gvir and their ilk are in favour of something, it's probably not ok and probably has a bit of hate speech and extremism in there.

Ottoman control of the region was very different to that of the western powers that replaced it.

It's also absolutely preposterous to imply that being subjugated by one or another imperial power somehow means that there is no such place as Palestine, and by implication that Palestinians have no right to live in the places they have done during living memory.

But yes, maybe we should give it all back to the peoples and their descendants who lived there up until 1946, and have some external ME based actor administer and provide security.

Not a bad idea really.

I did notice this. You can imagine the furore if it was about Israelis.

Why do you want them to resettle elsewhere? This is their ancestral land.

I can't wait for that I am half Italian so plenty of countries to claim as my ancestral home!

You seem to be misinterpreting what UNWRA is. UNWRA has no mandate to resettle refugees its role is to provide services to Palestinian refugees. UNWRA was set up to support the displaced 1948 refugees (this term was defined in 1952 as any person whose "normal place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948 and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict). The UN Partition plan meant the UN had a role in creating the Palestinian refugees which is why they set up UNWRA to support them. This is not the same situation for refugees elsewhere who did not become refugees because of a UN mandate.

Advocating for a Palestinian ‘right of return’ keeps the conflict going from generation to generation.
It doesn't! It is a right to choose to return to pre-1948 borders BUT Israel can resist that right. It is quite a simplified interpretation to assume this is what is keeping the conflict going and even more simplified to suggest the existence of UNWRA perpetuates it.

I will admit I am not an expert on this but from what I have read this is my interpretation. I have also not seen anything to suggest there is any great move to want to close UNWRA (outside of Israel). I also find the Palestinian voices are missing in any debate about it and it would be useful to get an understanding from them on their views of UNWRA. They are not pawns to move about at peoples will they are people with agency and rights, one of which is the right to self determination.

When there is a ceasefire and a two state solution, then the issue will be resolved.

Except, now that Israel has decimated Gaza, for humanitarian reasons, which is its actual function, UNWRA will probably have to continue existing for another 350 years.

For anyone who is interested you can find out more information and UNHCR and UNWRA here

https://www.unrwa.org/who-we-are/frequently-asked-questions

From the UNWRA website, on why UNWRA exists.

‘UNHCR does not have a mandate over Palestine refugees within the UNRWA fields of operations (Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip). This is not a decision on the part of either UNRWA or UNHCR, but rather the result of decisions of the international community enshrined in the 1951 Refugee Convention and the UNHCR Statute (adopted by the General Assembly).
In 1949, the UN General Assembly established two different UN refugee agencies – the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) – to respond to distinct refugee crises. The UN General Assembly provided these Agencies with complementary mandates to assist and protect refugees, as laid out in relevant instruments, including the Statute of UNHCR (adopted by a General Assembly resolution) and the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (an international treaty). Neither UNRWA nor UNHCR can unilaterally change these instruments.
The UNRWA mandate extends to the delivery of services to Palestine refugees within its five fields of operations: the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), the Gaza Strip, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. Therefore, Palestine refugees within these fields do not fall under UNHCR’s mandate. However, UNHCR has a mandate regarding Palestine refugees when they are outside the UNRWA areas of operations in certain circumstances.’

‘UNRWA and UNHCR also have distinct functions. UNRWA is a direct service provider. At the core of these services are education and health services, essential for the human development of Palestine refugees. UNHCR is not a direct service provider, it is not set up to be one, and it neitherhas the staff numbers required to deliver these services nor the requisite experience. Direct comparisons of the budgets of the two agencies and the staff required to deliver the respective mandates are deceptive. UNRWA operates as a quasi-state body delivering services akin to a state, while UNHCR offers temporary protection and assistance. A like-for-like comparison is disingenuous.
Even if Palestine refugees were to fall under UNHCR’s mandate, they would still be Palestine refugees and retain their rights under General Assembly resolution 194, pending a just and lasting solution to their plight. Any durable solution for refugees sought by UNHCR would still depend on all relevant parties agreeing to such a solution.’

From what I can see, UNRWA is the effective government for the Palestinians, letting Hamas and PLO off the hook for their corruption as they know someone else will always pick up the pieces. Why bother building schools instead of buying guns, when the world is willing to do it instead?

If/when a 2 state solution comes about, UNRWA will probably be folded into the Government's state apparatus.

They are not an effective government, where is your evidence for that?
Most countries if you look have some sort of NGO doing pieces of specific work with regards development, social inclusion and so on. This is not unique to Gaza or the West Bank

Well, you're seeing wrong. It's usually best to try to stick to facts rather than personal speculation on these matters.

Palestinians overall have a higher level of education than Israelis.

You've missed the point. Its unwra schools & ngo programmes that are responsible for that not so much hamas who have outsorced their responsibility for their citizens.