The statement went on to praise Kuwait’s “consistency” and “reliability” as a donor, highlighting that the small Gulf country has contributed a total of $45 million over three consecutive years in support of the agency’s efforts to assist Palestinian refugees in Syria.
In 2016, the statement added, UNRWA is appealing for $414 million “to meet the minimum humanitarian needs of Palestine refugees affected by the ongoing conflict in Syria.”
The Syrian conflict began in the form of peaceful protests in March 2011 and quickly morphed into a civil war that has so far left more than 400,000 people dead and millions displaced according to UN estimates.
Over half a million Palestinians lived across nine refugee camps in Syria prior to the war, the descendants of some of the 750,000 Palestinians expelled from their homes during the establishment of Israel in 1948.
Syria's civil war has seen many of these families displaced a second time, with up to 280,000 displaced inside Syria, a further 110,000 displaced to neighboring countries, including Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Egypt, and increasingly, to Europe.
