UNRWA forty-five years later.

• Author: Turkmen, Ilter
• Position: United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East

Created on 8 December 1949 by UN General Assembly resolution 302 (IV), UNRWA is a temporary organization which has existed for 45 years. The paradox between its temporary nature and the duration of its mandate illustrates the extraordinarily complex and unique character of the Palestinian refugee problem.

The case of the Palestinian refugees is unique at least in modern times and as far as duration is concerned. With time, their initial flight has become a de facto exile, and the Palestinians' exile or return has depended on the exile or return of the Jews to what has become the State of Israel. It was this that forged the framework of UNRWA's humanitarian mandate, imposing its deployment, development and adaptation according to the needs of the Palestinian populations concerned. And it was this exclusive attitude on both sides which was ended by the Oslo Agreements.

The mandate

General Assembly resolution 302 (IV) established UNRWA, recognizing "that continued assistance for the relief of the Palestine refugees is necessary to prevent conditions of starvation and distress among them and to further conditions of peace and stability...".

In addition, UNRWA was charged with carrying out in collaboration with local governments the direct relief and works programmes, as well as with consulting with "the interested Near Eastern Governments concerning measures to be taken by them preparatory to the time when international assistance for relief and works projects is no longer available".

UNRWA is therefore a subsidiary organ of the United Nations and it is the General Assembly which, every three years, has renewed its mandate and modified it on several occasions since 1950. On an annual basis, it reviews the resolutions related to the Agency and its operations.

Over the years, this mandate appears to have evolved flexibly according to developments in the region, accommodating itself to the needs generated by each situation. It also appears that the international community did not hesitate to entrust UNRWA with broader responsibilities, whether regarding its programmes, the range of its operations or the categories of its beneficiaries. The Agency's position has always been that its mandate is flexible, thus it is readily adaptable to meet emergencies as they arise.

It is often mentioned that the Agency is responsible for refugee camps in the Middle East. This is incorrect and tends to downplay UNRWA's role. In fact, the Agency's mandate pertains to Palestinian refugees wherever they are, in...