Page 9 - ARUBA TODAY

A9
WORLD NEWS Thursday 31 May 2018

Palestinians in Lebanon fear US cuts could close UN schools

By BASSEM MROUE share in Lebanon's eastern
TAALABAYA, Lebanon (AP) Bekaa Valley.
— When the teacher asked Sarah recalled the harrow-
the English class how to ing day of shelling in Da-
change a sentence from mascus, when she and her
the active to the passive younger brothers took shel-
voice, Sarah's hand shot ter on the first floor. One of
up from the front row, and the shells exploded nearby,
as soon as she was called covering everyone in dust.
upon she answered cor- "When I saw my wife and
rectly. children covered with dust
The 10-year-old Palestinian and shaking, I told myself
girl has come a long way we have to leave," her fa-
since she arrived in Leba- ther Ghadir said.
non after fleeing Syria's civil The family found relative
war five years ago, and is safety in Lebanon, but little
now a star student at an el- else. They rely on U.N. assis-
ementary school run by the tance, and Ghadir gets oc-
U.N. agency for Palestinian casional work at a nearby
refugees, which also pro- restaurant. At one point he
vides trauma counseling. set up a stand on the side
But those services, and the of the road to sell corn, but
thousands of children who In this Tuesday, May 22, 2018 photo, Sarah, right, a Palestinian refugee from Syria participates in he abandoned it when
rely on them, now face an English lesson at the Jafna Elementary school, run by the U.N. Agency for Palestinian Refugees, Lebanese security forces
an uncertain future, as the UNRWA, in the eastern Bekaa Valley town of Taalabaya, Lebanon. stormed the area, fearing
United States threatens to Associated Press he would be caught with-
cut funding at a time when out a work permit.
the U.N. agency is strug- in the Middle East. The efforts. Last month, international Despite everything she
gling to cope with crises agency provides health Other countries responded donors pledged an esti- has been through, Sarah
across the region. care, education and so- by pledging $100 million in mated $4.4 billion in hu- is excelling in school. She
Sarah's family is descended cial services to millions of new funding this year, but manitarian aid for Syria loves learning English and
from some of the hundreds refugees, including those UNRWA still faces a $350 and neighboring countries dreams of being a cardi-
of thousands of Palestinians displaced a second time million shortfall. in 2018, falling significantly ologist.
who fled or were expelled by the Syrian civil war and "If the financial crisis con- short of the more than $7 Samah Khalil, who provides
from what is now Israel other regional unrest. tinues, there are no guar- billion the United Nations is counseling to students at
during the 1948 war sur- The Trump administration antees that we will be seeking. the school, says many of
rounding its creation. The announced in January able to start next year's At the same time, refugees the children suffer from
refugees and their descen- it was slashing its aid to school year," said Salem in Lebanon face growing trauma that makes it dif-
dants now number more UNRWA, withholding $65 Dib, UNRWA's chief edu- hostility from political par- ficult for them to study or
than 5 million, and mostly million of a planned $125 cation program officer in ties that support the Syrian interact with others — but
reside in the West Bank, the million funding installment. Lebanon. "There are dan- government, which made Sarah was able to recover
Gaza Strip, Jordan, Leba- It released $60 million so gers regarding continuity of gains in Lebanese parlia- quickly.
non and Syria. the agency wouldn't shut education for all Palestin- mentary elections earlier "Sarah is a special student,
Sarah's family, who asked down, but made clear ian refugees, whether they this month and have called she is the best in her class
that their last name not be that additional U.S. support are from Lebanon or from for the Syrian refugees to and she is loved by her
published because of safe- would be contingent on Syria." return home. classmates," she said. "She
ty concerns, became refu- major reforms at the agen- Some 36,000 students, in- Sarah's parents hope their is great in every aspect."
gees a second time when cy. cluding nearly 5,500 who daughter can get a schol- Mary Joy Pigozzi, the exec-
they fled their Damascus Israel accuses UNRWA of were displaced from Syria, arship to study outside Leb- utive director of Educate A
home after it was hit by a perpetuating the conflict are studying at 66 UNRWA anon, allowing the family Child, which provides psy-
rocket in 2013. by promoting Palestinian schools in Lebanon. Dib of five to move somewhere chological counseling in
In Lebanon, they enrolled claims to a right of return, said it is difficult for Pales- safer. "If my children leave the UNRWA schools, says
Sarah at Jafna Elementary while President Donald tinians to enroll in public school they'll be lost," her EAC has worked hard to
School, which is operated Trump has blamed the schools, which are already mother Fatima said. foster the skills that young
by UNRWA, the oldest and Palestinians for the lack of overcrowded with Syrian The family recounted their people need to become
largest U.N. relief program progress in Mideast peace refugees. ordeal from the tent they future leaders.q