The Role of UNRWA in Protecting and Providing Assistance to Palestinian Refugees

S. Hasthisha Desikan

Abstract: The Palestinian refugee crisis has indeed been considered one of the most complex, as well as a main subject in Israel's confrontation with its Arab neighbours. The first wave of displacement of people took place between December 1947 and September 1949, due to the first Arab - Israeli confrontation amid the partition of Palestine by the United Nations. Around 750, 000 Palestinians are thought to have abandoned their dwellings in the territory of Palestine that would become Israel. The UN in response to this growing humanitarian crisis and endless persecution of a certain set of people established The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) to aid Palestinian refugees in their humanitarian and personal development The mandate of UNRWA includes Palestinians who were exiled as a result of the 1948 Israel - Palestine conflict and succeeding conflicts, as well as their children and their lineage. UNRWA's mandate is subject to regular extension and modification every three years as a subsidiary organization of the UNGA; and the agency has continually been expanding since its inception.

Keywords: UNRWA, Palestinian Refugees, Refugee Rights, UNRWA Mandate

Edition: Volume 10 Issue 9, September 2021,

Pages: 1525 - 1530