Since the revelations that at least 12 UNRWA employees had involvement with Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel and that around 10% of its employees in Gaza have links to Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad while another half have close relatives who belong to the Islamist militant groups many countries have decided to suspend aid to the agency.
UNRWA’s biggest donors in 2023 were the US and EU countries accounting for roughly $865M or about 75% of its $1.16B budget. With legitimate concerns that funding coming primarily from Western democracies is not only being used to fuel an agency whose purpose is to perpetuate the conflict but now is also directly linked to militant group terrorism, the suspension of aid is a welcome response towards securing a lasting solution for the region. Palestinians under UNRWA remain the only refugees worldwide with a dedicated UN agency and are the only refugees who retain refugee status intergenerationally after becoming citizens of third countries. Added the fact that some of this aid is paying the salaries of terrorists and being funneled toward terrorist activities and it becomes clear why cutting aid and diverting it to other organizations is crucial.
Here is an updated list of all countries that have decided to suspend their UNRWA funding:
- United States, $343.9 M: “The United States … has temporarily paused additional funding for UNRWA while we review these allegations and the steps the United Nations is taking to address them.” (U.S. Department of State)
- Germany, $202.1 M: “Until the end of the investigation, Germany, in coordination with other donor countries, will temporarily not approve any new funds for UNRWA .” (German Foreign Office)
- European Union, $114.1 M: “Currently, no additional funding to UNRWA is foreseen until the end of February. … The European Commission expects UNRWA to agree to carrying out an audit of the Agency to be conducted by EU appointed independent external experts.” (European Commission)
- Japan, $30.2 M: “Japan is extremely concerned about the alleged involvement of UNRWA staff members in the terror attack on Israel on October 7 last year. In response, Japan has decided to suspend additional funding to UNRWA for the time being while UNRWA conducts an investigation into the matter and considers measures to address the allegations.” (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan)
- France, $28.9 M: “France has not planned any further payments in the first quarter of 2024, and will decide when the time comes how to act in conjunction with the United Nations and the main donors.” (French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs)
- Switzerland, $25.5 M: ” The Swiss foreign ministry indicated that the contributions to UNRWA planned for this year, which have not yet been paid, would only be paid once it had more information on these serious allegations.” (SwissInfo.ch)
- Canada. $23.7 M: ” I am deeply troubled by the allegations relating to some UNRWA employees. I have instructed Global Affairs Canada to pause all additional funding to UNRWA pending the outcome of the investigation.” (Ahmed Hussen, Minister of International Development of Canada)
- United Kingdom, $21.2 M: “The UK is temporarily pausing any future funding of UNRWA whilst we review these concerning allegations.” (United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office)
- The Netherlands, $21.2 M : “The Netherlands will closely follow and weigh the outcome of the investigation when considering future Dutch financial contributions to UNRWA.” (Dutch Minister for Trade and Development Geoffrey Van Leeuwen)
- Australia. $13.8 M: “Australia welcomes UNRWA’s swift response and will engage closely on investigations. We are speaking with partners and will temporarily pause disbursement of recent funding.” (Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Senator Penny Wong)
- Italy, $18 M: “The Italian government has suspended funding after Hamas’ heinous attack on Israel on October 7th. Allied countries have recently made the same decision. ” (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy)
- Austria, $8.1 M: “Until these allegations are fully clarified, and there is clarity about the resulting consequences, Austria, in coordination with international partners, will temporarily suspend all further payments to UNRWA.” (Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs)
- Finland, $7.8 M: “Finland’s payments to UNRWA will be suspended due to the allegations. We must make sure that not a single euro of Finland’s money goes to Hamas or other terrorists. The suspicion that employees of an organisation receiving humanitarian assistance are involved in a terrorist attack is the reason for suspending the payments. The case must be investigated thoroughly.” (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland)
- Iceland, $558.7 K: “The Icelandic Foreign Minister, Bjarni Benediktsson, called for a thorough investigations and said contributions would be frozen until consultations, with the other Nordic countries.” (United Nations Regional Information Center)
- Romania,$210.7 K: “No new [Romanian] voluntary contribution to UNRWA until the investigation is finalised.” (Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
- Estonia, $90 K: “Concerning the recent very serious allegations against UNRWA, Estonia will not continue with the funding of the organisation.” (Margus Tsahkna, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Estonia)
