NEWS RELEASES
CANADA ASSISTS PALESTINIAN REFUGEES
November 13, 1997 No. 185
CANADA ASSISTS PALESTINIAN REFUGEES
Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy today announced that Canada will
contribute $1 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine
Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) to rebuild shelters for Palestinian refugees.
The Minister made the announcement while in Gaza as part of his visit to the
Middle East from November 9 to 16.
"This contribution reflects our special concern for Palestinian refugees," said
Mr. Axworthy, who noted that Canada is chair of the Refugee Working Group of the
Middle East Peace Process. "Until there is a negotiated, just solution to the
refugee problem, we want to improve their living conditions and thereby create new
employment opportunities."
Palestinians have faced severe economic hardship in recent years as a result of
falling incomes in the West Bank and Gaza and reduced job opportunities since the
Gulf War. Canada will make this special contribution to UNRWA, the multilateral
agency established in 1949 to provide assistance to Palestinian refugees in
Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and the West Bank and Gaza. This contribution is a response
to an appeal by UNRWA to the international community for funding of a program to
build and repair shelters for poor families. Local refugee labour will be hired
for construction work in UNRWA refugee camps.
"Overcrowding and unhealthy conditions in the refugee camps are a grave problem.
It is the duty of the international community to address this situation," said the
Honourable Diane Marleau, Minister for International Co-operation and Minister
Responsible for la Francophonie.
Funding for this initiative was provided for in the February 1997 federal budget
and is therefore built into the existing fiscal framework.
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For further information, media representatives may contact:
Debora Brown
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
(613) 995-1851
Media Relations Office
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
(613) 995-1874
This document is also available on the Department's Internet site:
http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca
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