Pan-Islamic body to set up fund for Palestine refugees

RIYADH (AA) - The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) plans to set up a special fund to support more than five million Palestinian refugees.

According to an OIC statement issued Thursday, the organization's committee of experts met this week at the OIC's Jeddah headquarters to discuss plans to establish a special fund to provide millions of displaced Palestinians with badly-needed support.

OIC Secretary-General Youssef al-Othaimeen said the meeting was held to respond to the financial crisis now plaguing the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and its adverse impact on refugees’ socio-economic conditions.

According to al-Othaimeen, the recent U.S. decision to cut funding to UNRWA threatens to "reduce -- or completely halt -- education and health services provided to more than five million Palestinian refugees”.

In September, the U.S. administration announced a decision to cut all funding to UNRWA, plunging the refugee agency into the worst financial crisis in its history.

In the OIC’s Thursday statement, al-Othaimeen urged the international community to shoulder its political, legal and humanitarian responsibilities with a view to finding a just solution to the issue of Palestinian refugees.

UNRWA was established by the UN General Assembly in 1949 with the stated aim of providing aid and protection to Palestinian refugees in its five areas of operations, namely, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.