“Over 80 per cent of Palestine refugees in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza live below the poverty line,” said UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini.
Lazzarrini told the U.N. Security Council that “in Lebanon, the pressure on the Agency to do more to address the impact of the economic and financial crisis on the Palestine refugee community is becoming unbearable.”
He added that “protests and acts of violence directed against UNRWA, are, at times, forcing my colleagues to close our installations.”
“Illegal emigration of Palestine refugees is rising,” Lazzarini went on to say.
Lazzarini said that UNRWA is facing “an existential threat,” as he appealed to Member States who have reduced their funding “to reconsider the impact of their decision on the region’s stability.”