EU SAYS PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY LOST 2.5 BILLION EUROS OF AID

Uni Eropas 12 Dzulhijjah 1434/17 October 2013 (MINA) – A draft report by the EU underlines the concern that the Palestinian Authority has lost 2.5 billion euros in aid over the last four years.

The unpublished draft report obtained from the European Court, an official EU institution based in Luxembourg disclosed its contents on Sunday.

According to the report, the EU transferred a total of 2.5 billion euros in aid between 2008 and 2012, but it does not know where the funds were directed, Middle East Monitor (MEMO) reported as monitored by (MINA) Mi’raj News Agency, Wednesday (16/10)

The newspaper revealed that the EU recently sent a delegation to occupied East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to investigate the way aid is being handled.

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The investigators confirmed, according to the report, the absence of any administrative procedures to prevent the exploitation of aid and expressed a real fear that the funds have been “misspent, squandered or lost to corruption”.

The investigators drew comparisons to similar experiences of corruption and the poor utilization of aid money in Egypt, where a total amount of one billion euros has disappeared over the last six years,

International aid has played a major role in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict as it has been used as a means to keep the peace process going. Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip receive one of the highest levels of aid in the world. Aid has been offered to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) and other Palestinian Non-governmental organizations (PNGOs) by the international community, including International Non-governmental Organizations (INGOs).

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The entities that provide aid to the Palestinians are categorized into seven groups: the Arab nations, the European Union, the United States, Japan, international institutions (including agencies of the UN system), European countries, and other nations.

According to the Development Assistance Committee, the main multilateral donors for the 2006–2007 period were UNRWA and the EU (through the European Commission); the main bilateral donors were the US, Japan, Canada and five European countries (Norway, Germany, Sweden, Spain and France).

Since 1993 the European Commission and the EU member-states combined have been by far the largest aid contributor to the Palestinians. The Arab League states have also been substantial donors, notably through budgetary support to the PNA during the Second Intifada; they have been however criticized for not sufficiently financing the UNRWA and the PNA, and for balking at their pledges.

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After the 2006 Palestinian elections, the Arab countries tried to contribute to the payment of the Palestinian public servants’ wages, bypassing the PNA; at the same time Arab funds were paid directly to Abbas’ office for disbursement. During the Paris Conference, 11% of the pledges came from the US and Canada, 53% from Europe and 20% from the Arab countries.(T/P012/P04)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)