UNRWA Reform and Refugee Support Act of 2018
This bill states that it shall be U.S. policy to recognize the refugee status of a Palestinian receiving assistance through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) if such person, or the person's spouse or minor child:
In applying such criteria to refugees under UNRWA it shall be U.S. policy, consistent with the definition of a refugee under the Immigration and Nationality Act, that:
[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6451 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
115th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6451
To establish the policy of the United States with respect to
contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for
Palestine Refugees in the Near East, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 19, 2018
Mr. Lamborn (for himself, Mr. Weber of Texas, Mr. DesJarlais, Mr.
Perry, Mr. McKinley, and Ms. Tenney) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish the policy of the United States with respect to
contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for
Palestine Refugees in the Near East, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``UNRWA Reform and Refugee Support Act
of 2018''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for
Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) was founded in 1949
through United Nations General Assembly Resolution 302 at the
conclusion of the Arab-Israeli Conflict of 1948 to ``alleviate
the conditions of starvation and distress among the Palestine
refugees'' from that conflict.
(2) According to UNRWA's Consolidated Eligibility and
Registration Instructions (CERI), Palestinian refugees are
``persons whose normal place of residence was Palestine during
the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948, and who lost both home
and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict''.
(3) Beginning in the 1950s, UNRWA changed the eligibility
requirements to be a Palestinian refugee from those displaced
in 1948 that is inconsistent with the original definition of
the agency. This change significantly inflated the number of
purported refugees and subsequently the number of individuals
who are eligible to receive UNRWA benefits. UNRWA classifies
individuals eligible for benefits as Palestinian refugees
including, but not limited to, those ``descendants of Palestine
refugee males, including legally adopted children'', several
generations removed from the conflict, who were born decades
after the conflict ended.
(4) This classification process is inconsistent with how
all other refugees in the world are classified, including the
definition used by the United Nations High Commission on
Refugees (UNHCR) and the laws concerning refugees in the United
States. Because of UNRWA's unique definition of a refugee, the
number of Palestinian refugees has grown exponentially over the
years, from approximately 600,000 in 1949 to 5,300,000 today.
In contrast the number of refugees from other conflicts has
diminished dramatically through UNHCR.
(5) Instead of resettling Palestinian refugees displaced as
a result of the Arab-Israeli Conflict of 1948, UNRWA provides
aid to those they define as Palestinian refugees until there is
a solution they deem acceptable to the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict. This policy does not help resettle the refugees from
1948 but instead maintains a refugee population in perpetuity.
(6) The United States has been UNRWA's biggest donor since
its inception, and contributes a disproportionate amount on
Palestinian refugees in comparison to other refugees around the
world. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has
addressed the world's estimated 65,000,000 displaced persons
with a staff of just over 10,000 and a 2017 budget of
$7,700,000,000. UNRWA, which claims it works on behalf of over
5,300,000 Palestinian refugees, has a staff of over 30,000,
with a 2016 budget of $1,450,000,000.
(7) UNRWA has 1 relief worker per roughly 170 refugees, 40
times the allocation of relief workers to non-Palestinian
refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
(8) UNRWA facilities have been used to launch terror
attacks against Israel, and UNRWA employees have frequently
faced credible charges of working with terrorist groups such as
Hamas, including the following:
(A) On July 16, 2014, UNRWA reported that it had
found 20 missiles in one of its schools in Gaza, likely
placed there by Hamas, and then returned them to the
``relevant authorities'' in Gaza, territory controlled
by Hamas.
(B) UNRWA reported finding missiles in their
schools again on July 22, 2014, and July 29, 2014.
(C) On July 30, 2014, three Israeli Defense Force
soldiers were killed in an explosion at a booby-trapped
UNRWA health clinic, which was housing the opening to
one of Hamas' underground tunnels.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the United States should--
(A) support UNRWA solely to the extent necessary to
accomplish its original and intended purpose to
resettle refugees from the Arab-Israeli Conflict of
1948;
(B) make contributions to UNRWA in proportion to
the number of refugees it assists that meet the United
States definition of a refugee; and
(C) continue to assist other needy populations
around the world through international aid and
development assistance, including Palestinians in the
West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria;
(2) the Secretary of State should determine and accordingly
provide to UNRWA a voluntary contribution in an amount that
bears the same proportion to the total requested United States
contribution as the proportion that refugees of the Arab-
Israeli Conflict of 1948 who meet the requirements described in
section 4(a) bear to the full population supported by UNRWA
programs;
(3) amounts made available to the Secretary of State that
are withheld from UNRWA in accordance with the determination
described in paragraph (2) should instead be made available to
the Administrator of the United States Agency for International
Development for providing assistance to other populations in
need in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria; and
(4) in accordance with the prohibition under section 301(c)
of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2221(c)),
United States assistance should not be made available to any
refugee who is receiving military training as a member of the
Palestine Liberation Army or who is a part of any organization
engaging in acts of terrorism.
SEC. 4. STATEMENTS OF POLICY WITH RESPECT TO CRITERIA FOR RECOGNITION
OF REFUGEE STATUS.
(a) Criteria for Recognition of UNRWA Refugee Status.--It shall be
the policy of the United States, with respect to recognizing the
refugee status of persons receiving assistance through UNRWA, that a
Palestinian refugee is a person, or the spouse or minor child of a
person--
(1) whose resided, between June 1946 and May 1948, in the
region controlled by Britain between 1922 and 1948 known as
Mandatory Palestine;
(2) who was personally displaced as a result of the Arab-
Israeli Conflict of 1948; and
(3) who has not accepted an offer of legal residency
status, citizenship, or other permanent adjustment in status in
another country.
(b) Consistency With United States Eligibility for Refugee
Status.--In applying the criteria described in subsection (a) with
respect to refugees under UNRWA, it shall be the policy of the United
States, consistent with the definition of a refugee in section 101(a)
of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)) and the
requirements for eligibility for refugee status under such Act, that--
(1) derivative refugee status may only be extended to the
spouse or minor child of such a refugee; and
(2) an alien who was firmly resettled in any country is not
eligible to retain refugee status.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Llama 3.2 · runs locally in your browser
Ask anything about this bill. The AI reads the full text to answer.
Enter to send · Shift+Enter for new line