Palestinian Refugees

Palestinian refugees: Today, numbering in the millions and spread across the Middle East, Palestinian refugees, who fled what is now Israel during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and ensuing conflicts, are central to Middle East politics and the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The worsening humanitarian conditions they face, now exacerbated by the conflict in Syria, further endanger the regions stability, according to The Star. In 2007, Canada gave $32.4 million to the United Nations Relief and Work Agency the organization mandated by the international community since 1950 to work for Palestinian refugees. The money was to help fund health care and education programs, as well as emergency food and job assistance to refugees most in need. This dropped to $20.5 million in 2009 and $15 million in 2012. Canada gave nothing in 2013, and there is no sign it will donate this year and When Prime Minister Stephen Harper visited the Middle East in January he signalled Canadas interest in showing greater leadership in the region. But if the Harper government wants to be taken seriously as a foreign policy leader, it cannot continue to ignore the Palestinian refugee crisis that is shaping the regions politics. And yet Canada, once a lead donor to Palestinian refugees, has turned its back on the population a decision at odds with Canadas foreign policy ostensibly concerned with the regions security. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.