The Palestinian refugee crisis in Syria is the primary topic of the debate The humanitarian dimension of the crisis in Syria: Palestinian refugees, set to take place next Thursday (17) in Rio de Janeiro. The event is organized by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) as part of the photo exhibition “A long journey,” which portrays Palestinians who left their country to escape the ongoing conflicts.
Debaters will include the UN’s resident coordinator in Brazil, Niky Fabiancic, the director of the Brazilian Foreign Ministry’s Middle East Department, ambassador Lígia Maria Scherer, the Palestinian ambassador in Brazil, Ibrahim Alzeben, the head of the Foreign Ministry’s general coordination for Humanitarian Aid and International Hunger Relief Actions, Milton Rondó, the International Relations professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Fernando Brâncoli, Deutsche Welle’s correspondent in Brazil, Renata Malkes, and the coordinator of the Center for Middle East Studies at Fluminense Federal University, Paulo Hilu Pinto. The moderator will be the director of the United Nations Information Center in Rio (Unic Rio), Giancarlo Summa.
According to UNRWA fundraising advisor Thereza Jatobá, the situation of Palestinians living in Syria deteriorated since the conflict erupted, forcing many to leave their places of residence. UNRWA numbers show that of 570,000 Palestinians in Syria, 440,000 were affected by the conflict and 280,000 became internally displaced. All 12 Palestinian refugee camps were harmed by the Syrian conflict, which broke out in 2011. Some 80,000 Palestinians left Syria for Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan and Egypt. Lebanon welcomed 42,000 and Jordan, 14,000.
“Many of them, however, ultimately fled to Europe looking for a place to live in. We haven’t heard of them afterwards, because Unrwa is not active in Europe,” Jatobá told ANBA on Friday (11). Refugees from other countries and Palestinians who go to Europe are catered to by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (Unhcr).
Unrwa and the refugees it assists are facing other challenges this year. One is the lack of funds, since out of the organization’s plea for USD 415 million to meet refugees’ demands, only USD 204 million made their way into Unrwa coffers. “We are working with a USD 210 million deficit. The same thing happened in 2014,” she said.
Jatobá said that the Brazilian government supports the actions in favor of Palestine victims and that, this year and the last, sent food to the refugees. She believes that the promotion of the debate will call society’s attention to the challenge these Palestinians face. “Our goal is to raise people’s awareness to their reality, which is seen as something apart from Brazilians”. She said that from the increase in awareness, there could be a higher effort in the search for support to the Palestinian refugees.
The debate will take place within another event, the photo exhibit “Uma Longa Jornada” (A Long Journey), which shows the refugees camps and their effort to survive in the midst of conflicts happening in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The exhibition has the support of many organizations, among them the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, and it will be open until January in the capital Rio de Janeiro.
During the debate, Unrwa will present its most recent campaign “Share Your Warmth”, which was launched worldwide early in the month and is asking for USD 2 million for clothing and equipment to face the winter. The campaign will be held until February 29th, 2016.
Debate: “The Humanitarian Dimension of the crisis in Syria: Palestine refugees”
December 17th, 2015, at 6 PM
Teatro do Centro Cultural Correios, Rua Visconde de Itaboraí, 20, Centro – Rio de Janeiro – RJ
Free admission
Information: https://www.facebook.com/UNRWABrasil/photos/gm.517246518438981/711920548907942/?type=3
“Uma Longa Jornada” (A Long Journey) Exhibition
Centro Cultural Correios
Rua Visconde de Itaboraí, 20, Centro, Rio de Janeiro – RJ
The admission-free exhibition will be open to the public from November 12th, 2015, to January 10th, 2016, from Tuesdays to Sundays, from noon to 7 PM.
Information: http://unrwa.org.br/umalongajornada/
Campaign “Share Your Warmth”: http://unrwa.org.br/2015/12/unrwa-lanca-campanha-compartilheoseucalor-para-ajudar-os-refugiados-da-palestina-durante-inverno/
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum and Sérgio Kakitani
