U.N. official defends aid

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33094, 8 December 1972, Page 19

U.N. official defends aid

Aid to Palestinian refugees from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency is more in the form of services than the administration of refugee camps, according to the agency’s acting Com-missioner-General (Mr C. W. Kontos). Comments on the agency’s work by Mr Kontos were sent to “The Press” this week in reply to an editorial, “Subsidised subversion?”, which was published in this newspaper on July 5. The editorial, which was based on a report in the “New York Times," said that the refugee camps in Lebanon were controlled by Palestinian guerrillas and questioned the continued financial support of the camps by U.N.R.W.A. 1.5 M REFUGEES Mr Kontos said that there were nearly 1.5 million Palestinian refugees registered with the agency, most of whom were not in camps. Only 6 per cent of the refugees lived in camps in Lebanon. “It has not always been

realised that U.N.R.W.A. provides services rather than administers camps. Refugee camps are not extraterritorial areas under United Nations jurisdiction, and the responsibility for law and order rests, in this instance, with the government of Lebanon,” he said. “In the camp visited (Ein el Hilweh) the concrete family shelters were erected by the refugees themselves with, in some cases, roofing material provided by U.N.R.W.A., and they have never been United Nations property. The ‘New York Times’ correspondent visited those installations which are United Nations property—the school, clinic and feeding centres. The buildings constituting the rest of the camp are the homes of the refugees. “TO FAMILIES” “The important point, however, is that U.N.R.W.A.’s humanitarian assistance is directed to needy refugee families, not camps, and U.N.R.W.A. maintains its control over the assistance it provides up to the point where the assistance is received by the intended beneficiaries. Two-thirds of U.N.W.R.A.’s programme involves children attending U.N.R.W.A - U.N.E.S.C.O. schools or training centres, persons (mainly women and children) given medical assistance in the health centres, and children given supplementary feeding. “The remaining one-third of the programme is the distribution of food rations. Rations for the eligible mem-

bers of each family are placed in the hands of the head of the family, who is required to identify himself as the authorised recipient.” His body was satisfied that the integrity of the operations had been maintained, that U.N.R.W.A. aid was intended, to needy refugees and was not diverted to other purposes. ALTERNATIVE, HARDSHIP "The withdrawal of U.N.R.W.A.’s services from camp areas in Lebanon would inflict extreme hardship on a

group of persons whose plight should arouse the most active compassion of all governments of the United Nations. “It is difficult to see how depriving needy refugee families of food rations providing no more than 1500 calories a day, stopping hot meals for undernourished children or closing schools would contribute to the cause of moderation and the just settlement of the refugee problem sought by the Security Council,” said Mr Kontos.