WASHINGTON: The leaders of 21 humanitarian aid groups wrote to the Trump administration on Wednesday to object “in the strongest terms” to a decision to withhold $65 million in planned US contributions to the UN agency that serves Palestinian refugees.
The US State Department said last week that Washington would withhold $65 million it had planned to pay the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), saying it needed to make unspecified reforms.
The leaders of the aid groups warned of “dire consequences” if the cut was maintained, according to the letter, a copy of which was given to Reuters.
“We are deeply concerned by the humanitarian consequences of this decision on life-sustaining assistance to children, women and men in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and the West Bank and Gaza Strip,” the letter said.
State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert on Thursday denied the move was to punish Palestinians, who have been sharply critical of President Donald Trump’s announcement last month that he would move the US Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv.
She repeated the US view that UNRWA needs reform, saying there are a lot more refugees in the program than previously, and that “money coming in from other countries needs to increase as well to continue paying for all those refugees.”
Eric Schwartz, president of Refugees International and former US assistant secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration, said the comments by Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, was aimed at punishing Palestinian political leaders and forcing them to make political concessions.
“But it is wrong to punish political leaders by denying life-sustaining aid to civilians. This is a dangerous and striking departure from US policy on international humanitarian assistance which conflicts starkly with values that US administrations and the American people have embraced,” Schwartz said in the letter.
The State Department also said on Thursday that the US would not provide a separate $45 million in food aid for Palestinians that it pledged last month as part of the West Bank/Gaza Emergency Appeal led by UNRWA.
Nauert said the US had made clear to UNRWA that the $45 million was a pledge aimed at helping the agency with “forecasting,” but it was not a guarantee.
Trump said in a Twitter post on Jan. 2 that the US gives the Palestinians hundreds of millions of dollars a year, “but get no appreciation or respect.”
The decisions to curb funding are likely to compound the difficulty of reviving Israeli-Palestinian peace talks as well as further undermine Arabs’ faith that the US can act as an impartial arbitrator.
The last talks collapsed in 2014, partly due to Israel’s opposition to an attempted unity pact between the Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas, and because of Israeli settlement building on occupied land that Palestinians seek for a state, among other factors.
Aid groups slam US for withholding Palestinian refugee funds
Aid groups slam US for withholding Palestinian refugee funds
Historic decree seeks to end decades of marginalization of Syria’s Kurds
DAMASCUS/RIYADH: A decree issued by President Ahmad Al-Sharaa on Friday marks a historic end to decades of marginalization of Syria’s Kurdish minority and seeks to open a new chapter based on equality and full citizenship in post-liberation Syria.
The presidential action, officially known as Decree No. 13, affirms that Syrian Kurds are an integral part of the national fabric and that their cultural and linguistic identity constitutes an inseparable element of Syria’s inclusive, diverse, and unified national identity.
Al-Sharaa’s move seeks to address the consequences of outdated policies that distorted social bonds and divided citizens.
The decree for the first time grants Kurdish Syrians rights, including recognition of Kurdish identity as part of Syria’s national fabric. It designates Kurdish as a national language alongside Arabic and allows schools to teach it.
Al-Sharaa’s decree came after fierce clashes that broke out last week in the northern city of Aleppo, leaving at least 23 people dead, according to Syria’s health ministry, and forced more than 150,000 to flee the two Kurdish-run pockets of the city. The clashes ended after Kurdish fighters withdrew.
The Syrian government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), that controls the country’s northeast, have engaged in months of talks last year to integrate Kurdish-run military and civilian bodies into Syrian state institutions by the end of 2025, but there has been little progress.
The end of an era of exclusion
For more than half a century, Kurds in Syria were subjected to systematic discriminatory policies, most notably following the 1962 census in Hasakah Governorate, which stripped thousands of citizens of their nationality and deprived them of their most basic civil and political rights.
These policies intensified after the now-dissolved Baath Party seized power in 1963, particularly following the 1970 coup led by criminal Hafez al-Assad, entrenching a state of legal and cultural exclusion that persisted for 54 years.
With the outbreak of the Syrian revolution in March 2011, Syrian Kurds actively participated alongside other segments of society. However, the ousted regime exploited certain separatist parties, supplying them with weapons and support in an attempt to sow discord and fragment national unity.
Following victory and liberation, the state moved to correct this course by inviting the Kurdish community to fully integrate into state institutions. This approach was reflected in the signing of the “March 10 Agreement,” which marked an initial milestone on the path toward restoring rights and building a new Syria for all its citizens.
Addressing a sensitive issue through a national approach
Decree No. 13 offers a balanced legal and political response to one of the most sensitive issues in modern Syrian history. It not only restores rights long denied, but also redefines the relationship between the state and its Kurdish citizens, transforming it from one rooted in exclusion to one based on citizenship and partnership.
The decree shifts the Kurdish issue from a framework of conflict to a constitutional and legal context that guarantees meaningful participation without undermining the unity or territorial integrity of the state. It affirms that addressing the legitimate demands of certain segments strengthens, rather than weakens, the state by fostering equal citizenship, respecting cultural diversity, and embracing participatory governance within a single, centralized state.
Core provisions that restore dignity
The decree commits the state to protecting cultural and linguistic diversity, guaranteeing Kurdish citizens the right to preserve their heritage, develop their arts, and promote their mother tongue within the framework of national sovereignty. It recognizes the Kurdish language as a national language and permits its teaching in public and private schools in areas with significant Kurdish populations, either as an elective subject or as part of cultural and educational activities.
It also abolishes all laws and exceptional measures resulting from the 1962 Hasakah census, grants Syrian nationality to citizens of Kurdish origin residing in Syria, including those previously unregistered, and guarantees full equality in rights and duties. In recognition of its national symbolism as a celebration of renewal and fraternity, the decree designates Nowruz Day (21 March) as a paid official holiday throughout the Syrian Arab Republic.
A call for unity and participation
In a speech following the issuance of the decree, President Ahmad al-Sharaa addressed the Kurdish community, urging them not to be drawn into narratives of division and calling on them to return safely to full participation in building a single homeland that embraces all its people. He emphasized that Syria’s future will be built through cooperation and solidarity, not through division or isolation.
The decree presents a pioneering national model for engaging with diversity, grounded not in narrow identities but in inclusive citizenship, justice, and coexistence. The decree lays the foundations for a unified and strong Syria that respects all its components and safeguards its unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.
