More than half a million Palestine refugees are directly affected by the conflict in Syria. The UNRWA response aims to preserve refugees' resilience through the continuation of UNRWA services and humanitarian assistance. For a more detailed overview, see the Agency's 2014 Syria regional crisis response here. This biweekly update covers UNRWA efforts from 1 to 18 September.
HIGHLIGHTS
As children across Syria returned to school, UNRWA initiated a project emphasising the voice children have in determining their future. #myvoicemyschool is a project for refugee students to discuss their lives, education and futures with students in the UK. Over the next three months, Palestine Refugees from Syria living in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan will connect with three UK schools through live video connections, using shared lesson plans. Each class will develop a student voice project about education, working with traditional and multimedia tools. Their experiences will be shared with a network of 82,000 classrooms worldwide.
Recent weeks saw escalating violence and displacement across Syria, with continued access difficulties for Palestine refugees in Yarmouk, Khan Eshieh, villages to the west of Dera’a and other locations. Frequent recourse to armed violence interrupted life-saving humanitarian operations in Yarmouk, which remains of deep concern to UNRWA. In Dera’a, clashes and shelling have continued, with the city and surrounding areas suffering from electricity shortages, which in turn affected distribution of UNRWA cash assistance. One UNRWA staff member was killed while trying to escape clashes in Dera’a camp.
REGIONAL OVERVIEW
Of the 17 United Nations staff killed in Syria as a result of the conflict, 14 are UNRWA staff. Twenty-six UNRWA staff are currently detained or missing. Twenty-six UNRWA staff have been injured during the course of the conflict.
Displacement. Of approximately 540,000 Palestine refugees registered with UNRWA in Syria, over 50 per cent are estimated to have been displaced within Syria, with a further 12 per cent to neighbouring countries. In Lebanon, 44,000 Palestine refugees from Syria have been recorded with UNRWA; in Jordan 14,290 and in Gaza 860 have approached UNRWA for assistance. The Agency also received reports of around 4,000 Palestine refugees in Egypt and smaller numbers in Libya, Turkey and East Asia.
Funding. The total pledged amount against the 2014 Response Plan stands at $203.7 million, including $33.8 million pledged in 2013 for implementation in 2014. This amount is equivalent to 49 per cent of the total budget of the 2014 Syria regional crisis response required for January-December 2014 ($417 million).
Inter-agency. No recent developments.
Media. UNRWA Syria education messaging was mentioned in parallel to UNRWA Gaza ‘back to school’ messaging in media coverage of the new school year. There was peripheral reporting on Palestinians, possibly from Syria, among the casualties of the capsizing boat in the Mediterranean. Although no explicit connections were made, the coverage helped highlight the difficulties many are facing as a result of the political instability and war affecting communities in the region. On a diplomatic front, the Commissioner-General’s high level meetings and visits reported in press releases have revealed renewed commitment to UNRWA including in Syria by the UAE and Russia. Otherwise, four stories on Palestine refugees from Syria (PRS) living in Lebanon featured in smaller publications. Stories discussed unequal treatment of PRS with regards to residency permit renewals, tensions between PRS and Palestine Refugees from Lebanon, high cost of living – in particular rent, rumours of a reduction in the WFP food stamp value due to fund shortages, and lastly the commercial development of traditional embroidery that is providing financial and psychosocial resilience for both Palestinian and Syria refugees.