| So does everyone else. Get in line, guys. |
...a formerly French, now an Iranian colony situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. ....The appeal by the agency for Paleostinian refugees, or UNRWA, is asking for an additional $87.5 million is to provide Paleostinian refugees with cash assistance to the poorest, cover hospital expenses, as well as transportation for children so that they can go to school.
Maybe they could use the bomber's allocation?
UNRWA says more than 210,000 Paleostinian refugees are among the most vulnerable and that some basic commodities have become out of reach for many as Lebanon sinks deeper into the economic meltdown. It added that more than 58% of Paleostinian refugees here have reduced the numbers of meals they eat every day.
About 400,000 Paleostinian refugees and their descendants mostly live in a dozen refugee camps in Lebanon, set up for those who fled or were pushed out during fighting surrounding Israel's creation in 1948. An additional 27,000 Paleostinians fled from Syria over the past decade during its deadly civil war.
The Paleostinians in Lebanon are prohibited from working in professional jobs, have few legal protections and cannot own property.
Paleostinian refugee Hiam Habib said UNRWA's assistance was dropping while everything becomes so much more expensive. She spoke from the Paleostinian refugee camp of Burj al-Barajneh in southern Beirut, a few miles away from UNRWA's offices.
"We urge UNRWA to find solutions for us otherwise I will end up with my family in the street," she said, sitting next to an electric heater, turned on to minimum power because it was working on a neighborhood's private generator.
Lebanon's crisis erupted in October 2019, rooted in decades of corruption and mismanagement by the ruling class. It has left tens of thousands of people jobless, and nearly 80% of the country's population of 6 million, including about 1.5 million Syrian and Paleostinian refugees, live in poverty. The Lebanese pound has lost more than 90% of its value, wiping out the purchasing power of middle class and low-income families.
"The situation is dire," said Claudio Cordone, director of UNRWA Affairs, Lebanon. He called on the agency's partners to work together to help so that Paleostinian refugees, "wherever they are, can live in dignity as they deserve."