September 13, 2005

Introduction

On September 13, 2005, the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) hosted “A Conversation with Karen AbuZayd”, newly-appointed Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), on “The Prospects for Palestine Refugees Following Israeli Disengagement from Gaza.” Based in Gaza, AbuZayd oversees UNRWA programs for 4.1 million Palestine refugees, concentrated in education, health, social services, and micro-enterprise.  UNRWA provides services to Palestine refugees living in Jordan, Lebanon, the Syrian Arab Republic, and the West Bank.

The event was moderated by MPI Director Kathleen Newland, who introduced Ms. AbuZayd as a seasoned official with a deep and sophisticated knowledge of refugee issues. Prior to becoming Commissioner-General, she had for five years been Deputy to her predecessor in that post, and earlier spent nineteen years with the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. At UNHCR she held senior positions including Chief of Staff to High Commissioner Ogata, Regional Representative for the United States and the Caribbean, and head of UNHCR operations in Bosnia.

Discussion

AbuZayd focused her introductory remarks on the implications of Israeli disengagement from Gaza, the current situation of Palestinian refugees, and UNRWA’s work more generally.

Disengagement:  AbuZayd began by explaining the disengagement process in the Gaza Strip, with the Israeli settlements in Gaza dismantled and Israeli defense forces completing their withdrawal on Sunday, September 11.  AbuZayd highlighted the new freedom of movement within a Gaza strip without checkpoints and roadblocks, including Palestinian access to the beaches of Gaza, previously off-limits because of security issues associated with Israeli settlements along the coast.  She noted that despite progress within the territory, the control of its borders is still firmly in Israel’s hands, a situation that hinders movement of goods and people in and out of Gaza.

The completion of disengagement in Gaza has made way for a series of new initiatives. The Palestinian Authority plans to rebuild a seaport during the next two to three years, and AbuZayd raised the possibility that the airport will be repaired, although this would be subject to Israeli approval and possibly would be operated by a third party.  The southern border with Egypt was open for a few days at Rafah, under Egyptian management; however, the Egyptians plan to close it for six months to build security controls, so traffic will in the meantime be diverted through Israel.  Israel has moved its check points from territory inside Gaza to locations just within its own territory outside the border.

Questions remain as to whether or not there will be a reasonably efficient transportation link between the West Bank and Gaza, or Gaza and Israel, in order to permit trade relations to develop. AbuZayd hopes that a convoy system might be put into place; at present, goods must be unloaded and reloaded at Israeli borders, which adds prohibitive costs to Gaza’s agricultural and other products.  She said she had talked with members of the US Congress to determine the possibility of a road or railroad connection between Gaza and the West Bank.  She noted that exchange between the two territories – both the movement of people and of goods – will be vital in the development and rebuilding of the Palestinian territories.

West Bank: AbuZayd said that the West Bank remains largely under Israeli control. The continuing expansion of the Israeli security barrier and Israeli settlements is worrisome.  She said that 8,000 refugees, as well as other Palestinian civilians, currently live in the “Seam Zone,” or region between the barrier and Israel’s recognized 1967 border (the Green Line), and 200,000 Palestinians have had their lives and livelihoods affected by the barrier.  The restriction of movement of Palestinians both within the West Bank and across borders has created a situation in which they have limited access to land and are constrained in their efforts to farm or transport products in order to create a viable economy. 

UNRWA’s projects involve other agencies and are conducted in cooperation with the Palestinian Authority (PA) with the goal of strengthening the PA and establishing better governance.  The second intifadah caused serious deterioration in economic activity and services over the past five years, which seem to have reached a plateau in the past two years. Given this background, UNRWA regards the disengagement with a sense of optimism.  AbuZayd briefly described a few of the major types of UNRWA projects.

• Microfinance:  UNRWA provides micro-enterprise loans in an effort to boost economic activity, and is looking to increase funding for this program post-disengagement.
• Job creation:  This includes a series of initiatives, including apprenticeships for recent graduates; increased refugee access to jobs in municipalities, the UN and other international organizations; and vocational training.
• Housing reconstruction:  Using pledges, including those from the Saudi and Japanese governments, this program seeks to rebuild demolished houses, starting with the most vulnerable families; the program has rebuilt 21,000 houses and has pledges for at least 11,000 more.

Staff Relocation:  Much of the UNRWA headquarters staff previously in Gaza has been relocated to offices in Amman and Jerusalem owing to security considerations, including recent kidnappings, and the difficulty in movement in and out of Gaza.  Only four people from the UNRWA front office and about 8,000 local staff are working from Gaza at this time.

Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon:  Lebanon’s new government has put forward legislation allowing refugees to work in jobs from which they were previously banned.  They also will be allowed to take some construction materials into refugee camps to repair housing, which had not been allowed before. This represents a considerable breakthrough for Palestine refugees in Lebanon, who have suffered greatly under stringent restrictions on their activities. UNRWA’s work in Lebanon has been facilitated by the presence of Lebanon on its Advisory Commission this year.

The UNRWA Advisory Commission: 

UNRWA hopes to expand the role of the Advisory Commission so that it serves as a governing board, with members to include countries that have given UNRWA significant support monetarily and on the ground. As such, UNRWA is looking for a UN General Assembly resolution to expand the Advisory Commission’s mandate to a more formal, governing role.

UNRWA used to hold two large donors meetings each year for those who had donated more than $1 million.  AbuZayd said they hoped to change this to a single meeting a year that would include states that had given less than $1 million, and would include a chance to meet with refugees.

Questions, answers and comments

A participant commented that using the term “wall” for the barrier between Israel and the West Bank was not accurate, since the barrier is 70 percent fence and 30 percent wall.  He noted that it was important to consider that the barrier and checkpoints were defensive measures designed to deter suicide bombers and terrorists, not merely measures to make life difficult for Palestinians. 

AbuZayd responded that the correct term would be “barrier.” She mentioned that UNRWA’s mandate is to work on behalf of Palestinians, which informs her discussion of these issues.  She characterized many Israeli measures as collective punishment of people who are not involved in terrorism, and suggested that other security measures could be taken that would be less disruptive to Palestinian life.  She said that the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) had been working together to remove checkpoints in the West Bank, which were now down to 300 from 800 checkpoints, with a goal of removing 100 more.

One member of the audience noted that because so many Palestinians are refugees, those who are not refugees are often glossed over in discussions.

AbuZayd pointed out that, while the people most disadvantaged in the intifadah tended to be refugees, UNRWA is working closely with the Palestinian Authority to bring about improvement in the quality of life for all Palestinians. (Approximately 70 percent of the population in Gaza is made up of refugees.) While UNRWA works on health, education, social services and microloans, the Palestinian Authority is responsible for electricity, water, the Agriculture Ministry, and so on.  In the case of refugee camps, which are typically indistinguishable from the surrounding towns, UNRWA is working to assist refugees who are in poverty, and the PA is working to assist the town’s poorer areas. 

A participant asked how the land previously occupied by the settlements would be used.

AbuZayd responded by saying that the PA plans to take over that territory and build high rise apartment buildings to relieve Gaza’s desperate overcrowding, and use some of the areas for tourism and agriculture.  She mentioned that if the settlements’ greenhouses and the marketing mechanism they had for sending goods to Israel and abroad were to be kept in place, they could provide an important economic boost for the Gaza economy.

Another speaker raised the question of what the distinction between Palestinians who are refugees and those who are not means in terms of how UNRWA functions – for example, in providing education.

AbuZayd responded that UNRWA has agreements with schools in, for example, Syria, that UNRWA will take some non-refugee children in UNRWA schools and government schools will allow some refugee children to attend.  UNRWA employees may also send their children to UNRWA schools if they so choose, even if they are not refugees. She mentioned that while UNRWA schools used to be superior, the quality has suffered recently. Part of the organization’s mid-term plan is to improve the schools. She rejected any implications that, after the Israeli withdrawal, the full responsibility for educating children in the Gaza Strip could be given over to the PA, noting that PA officials concur that it lacks the capacity to subsume UNRWA’s functions.

A participant asked for a comment on the issue of providing security for the UNRWA staff. 

AbuZayd said that, until the last few months, there has been no major law and order problem in Palestine, due to the culture being family-focused and regulated by the authority of clans or tribes.  She said that recent kidnappings have largely been attempts by the perpetrators to get their relatives released from jail.  While none of the staff has been seriously hurt in these kidnappings, there is no guarantee of that being true in the future, so non-local members of the staff had been relocated.  She expressed her hope that the Palestinian Authority can be more forceful about ensuring that kidnappings do not occur in the future, and was optimistic that this would be true after the legislative elections next spring.

Another participant asked how UNRWA determines who is eligible for their services, how they exclude terrorists, and what guidelines exist for determining who receives UNRWA assistance.

AbuZayd said that in many cases, particularly in distribution of goods to families, it is very difficult to tell, for example, who will actually eat the bread made with flour distributed to a family.  However, in the case of house reconstruction after demolition, UNRWA inquires about the reason for the demolition. If it was knocked down indiscriminately with a number of others as “collateral damage,” then UNRWA will help with reconstruction.  However, if the house was destroyed because it was a base for terrorism-related activity, UNRWA will not help rebuild it. She pointed out, however, that refusing to assist an entire family because one member had engaged in unlawful acts could be seen as collective punishment of families who might be entirely ignorant of one member’s actions.

Ms. AbuZayd was asked about the economic survival of people in Gaza, and whether remittances from relatives working abroad played a part.

AbuZayd said that the freer movement of people and goods would be critical to a revival of the economy.  She cited a 40 percent unemployment rate in Gaza and said 60 percent of the people there live below the poverty line.  This is due in large part to the numbers of day laborers formerly working in Israel who lost their jobs as a result of the intifadah.  She said that the marketing of greenhouse produce and other agricultural produce would help a great deal with the economy.  Additionally, many Palestinians have become highly educated, going on for higher degrees because they were unable to work. The great challenge now is to find them employment that will make use of their skills. She was not aware of the impact of remittances on households in Gaza.

Ms. Newland and the audience joined in thanking Ms. AbuZayd for a most informative presentation and discussion.