The head of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Filippo Grandi, said this Friday that it is vital to prevent residents of southern Gaza from fleeing to Egypt, as this could derail the peace process.
“People should not cross the border,” said Filippo Grandi from Munich, where he is attending the 59th Security Conference.
“It would be catastrophic for the Palestinians, especially those who would be forced to move again. This would be a disaster for Egypt in every way. And, more importantly than anything else, a new refugee crisis would spell the death knell for the future peace process,” said the UNHCR leader.
Grandi believes that once refugees leave the Gaza Strip, they will no longer be able to return to their homes, as happened during the mass exodus in 1948, and this will destroy the possibility of a two-state solution in the region.
Therefore, Grandi believes that a new exodus “must be avoided at all costs,” saying his agency is not involved in the preparations that the Egyptians appear to be making to accept Palestinian refugees from the Gaza Strip.
Some 1.4 million people, many of them repeatedly displaced, are concentrated in Rafah, where they live in extremely difficult conditions, with little food and in temporary shelters.
“More than half of Gaza’s population lives in less than 20% of the Gaza Strip,” a recent UN report said.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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