The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees is asking Arab nations for funds in the wake of the Trump administration's cut of tens of millions of dollars of aid money.
UNRWA Commissioner Pierre Krahenbuhl spoke to an Arab League meeting of foreign ministers in Cairo on Thursday and said the U.S. cut "is the most severe crisis" in the agency's history.
The U.N. Relief and Works Agency, which serves 5 million Palestinian refugees and their descendants, had a budget of over $1 billion last year. The agency is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions from U.N. member states, with aid from the U.S., its largest donor, accounting for a third of its total budget. The Trump administration withheld half of the first installment of payments this year, demanding financial reforms as a condition for future aid.
Last week, Krahenbuhl suggested that politics, notably the U.S.'s December decision to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, were at play.
Also at Thursday's Arab League meeting, Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said the cut in U.S. funding for UNRWA will put the stability and security of the region at risk.
"It is no secret that this trend poses a threat to the refugee issue ... as well as the negative consequences that will not only affect the receiving countries of refugees, but also the stability and security of the region," Aboul Gheit said.
