Last week in Minister on Thursday there were two questions from Dr John Inge, the Bishop of Worcester which both referred to the UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency): Finance – Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Both of the questions were responded from the Government by Tariq Ahmad who is from Wimbledon. So here are the questions and the answers here and there.

John: To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the livelihoods of Palestinian refugees in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon of the decision to suspend aid to the United Nations Refugee and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

Tariq: The UK provided £35 million to UNRWA this financial year, including an uplift of £16 million for the Gaza humanitarian response, all of which was disbursed before the recent allegations came to light. No more British funding is due this financial year and we have paused any future funding of UNRWA..

Indeed, we are appalled by allegations that UNRWA staff were involved in the 7 October attack against Israel, a heinous act of terrorism that the UK Government has repeatedly condemned.

We want UNRWA to give detailed undertakings about changes in personnel, policy and precedents to ensure this can never happen again. We are working with allies to try to bring this situation to a rapid conclusion. I have discussed this with Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini on several occasions, most recently on 4 April.

We are aware that the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services and Catherine Colonna have now provided their interim reports to the UN Secretary-General.

John: To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the humanitarian relief effort in Gaza and the West Bank of the decision to suspend aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

Tariq: Our decision to pause future funding to UNRWA has no impact on the UK’s contribution to the humanitarian response. We remain committed to getting humanitarian aid to people in Gaza who desperately need it, including through other UN agencies and British charities. We trebled our aid commitment this financial year and we are doing everything we can to get more aid in as quickly as possible by land, sea and air. UK funding has supported the work of partners including the British Red Cross, World Food Programme, UNICEF and Egyptian Red Crescent Society (ERCS) to deliver vital supplies.