Action Group | Lebanon
Palestinian refugees from Syria in Lebanon today organized a mass sit-in in front of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) center in Burj al-Barajneh camp, protesting the delay in cash assistance for more than three months and demanding the provision of a comprehensive relief plan that includes health, education, and social protection services.
Representatives of the Civil Campaign to Support Palestine and the Issues of the Nation, the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, and Palestinian revolutionary factions participated in the sit-in, along with a large crowd of refugees.
The event was opened by Ms. Ibtisam Miari, who paid tribute to the mothers of martyrs on the occasion of Mother’s Day, emphasizing the steadfastness of Palestinian women as partners in the struggle and resistance.
In his speech, Dr. Nasser Haidar, rapporteur of the Civil Campaign to Support Palestine and the Issues of the Nation, emphasized that the Palestinian refugee issue is not merely a relief issue, but rather a just national cause that is being subjected to plots aimed at eliminating it. He said: “We stand today to raise our voices against the systematic targeting of UNRWA. Attempts to end it or reduce its services are part of the Israeli-American plan to end the refugee issue and obliterate their rights.”
He also called for a comprehensive Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue that would ensure the improvement of refugees’ conditions, an end to discrimination against them, and strengthening Palestinian unity to confront liquidation projects.
For his part, Ahmed Sakhnini, a leader in the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), emphasized that the crisis facing UNRWA is not merely a financial one, but rather part of a plan to end the existence of Palestinian refugees as a political and legal entity, asserting: “We are not numbers or victims, but a people struggling for our freedom and rights, and we will not accept that our cause be reduced to financial calculations or political pressure.”
Activist Rami Mansour spoke on behalf of Palestinian refugees from Syria, expressing the extent of the suffering they are enduring in Lebanon as a result of UNRWA cuts and international neglect. He said, “We have waited for cash assistance for more than three months without any justification, amid catastrophic living conditions. We will not accept being left to an unknown fate, and we will continue our actions until our just demands are met.”
At the conclusion of the sit-in, Comrade Abu Ayed, a member of the field committee, read out the memorandum of demands addressed to the Director of UNRWA Affairs in Lebanon, Ms. Dorothee Klaus. The memorandum included:
1. Immediately disbursing cash assistance for the months of arrears, and ensuring regular monthly distribution.
2. Addressing the residency issue in cooperation with the relevant authorities to guarantee the legal and humanitarian rights of refugees.
3. Providing a comprehensive and sustainable relief plan, and improving health and education services to meet the needs of refugees.
4. The UNRWA Commissioner-General must take action to mobilize financial support and ensure the continuation of services without reduction.
The memorandum was delivered to the Director of UNRWA Services in the camp, Mr. Nasser Saleh, amid participants’ affirmation of the continuation of the protests and the adoption of escalatory steps if the demands are not met.