In the year following the tragic 2003 suicide attack in Baghdad, a devastating event that claimed the lives of 22 United Nations personnel, including the Secretary-General’s envoy to Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, the United Nations established the UN Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS).
The United Nations Department for Safety and Security (UNDSS) currently operates under the guidance of an Under-Secretary-General, Gilles Michaud. His chief responsibilities revolve around ensuring the safety and security of United Nations personnel, as well as the security of United Nations premises in accordance with the United Nations Security Management System (UNSMS).
Since October 7th, 2023, a disheartening reality has surfaced. Over 130 local Palestinian staff from UNRWA have tragically fallen victim to Israeli acts.
The Secretary-General conveyed his sorrow, stating, “We’ve never experienced such a significant loss in the entire history of our organization.” The weight of his words underscores the severity of this crisis.
Meanwhile, the UNRWA Commissioner-General (CG) and Spokesperson hold firm to their narrative that “No Place is Safe in Gaza.”
It’s indeed true that the reckless, inhumane bombings by Israel have turned the Gaza Strip into a danger zone. However, this narrative also cleverly veils the disappointing shortcomings of the UN Security Management System (UNSMS), the Secretary-General, and the UNRWA Commissioner-General.
On December 8th, the Secretary-General told the Security Council:
More than 130 of my colleagues have already been killed, many with their families.
This is the largest single loss of life in the history of our Organization.
Some of our staff take their children to work so they know they will live or die together.
Colleagues have shared heartbreaking messages from staff members pleading for help.
The Under-Secretary-General of the Department of Safety and Security has advised me that all possible means of mitigating the risk to staff within Gaza, short of evacuation, are closed off, because of the way this conflict has evolved.
Is it possible that the Secretary-General willingly turns a blind eye to the shortcomings of his top officials? Or perhaps he is misled by false information? Regardless, his final proclamation appears to be bereft of any substantial grounding.
The claim that no effective measures exist to lessen the risk faced by UNRWA Palestinian staff in Gaza isn’t accurate.
The United Nations Security Management System and the UN Security Policy Manual state that the policies apply to “All United Nations system staff members, including temporary staff, in posts subject to international or local recruitment.”
Potential risk mitigation measures existed, yet they were left unused.
Picture this: Over the past ten years, United Nations staff around the world have been incorporated into the UN Security Management System. Yet, there has been a consistent and systemic exclusion of the UNRWA Palestinian local staff from this system. This is the reality of the discrimination being faced by these Palestinian members of the UN staff.
Just days into the Gaza war, the Undersecretary-General for the Department of Safety and Security presented a report to the General Assembly on behalf of the Secretary-General titled, “Safety and security of humanitarian personnel and protection of United Nations personnel”
Upon analyzing the report, particularly the section concerning security incidents affecting UNRWA’s area personnel, you’ll find an intriguing footnote 9 that deserves careful reading:
“9. United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) area personnel are not covered by the United Nations security management system. “
There it is.
The elusive part of the enigma.
The United Nations Security Management System (UNSMS) doesn’t incorporate UNRWA Palestinian staff into its security management policies.
The guidelines of the United Nations Security Management System (UNSMS) stipulate that local staff members of the UNRWA should ideally be moved to a safe haven within their duty station; this is where the international staff currently based in Gaza are housed.
UNRWA Palestinian staff have not been relocated.
Under this UNSMS, UNRWA should have immediately carried out a head count of the Palestinian local staff. They were unable to do so, and there was none.
Presently, UNRWA has been unsuccessful in furnishing up-to-date, precise data concerning the count of their Palestinian staff members who have been injured or lost their lives.
According to the UNSMS system, the expectation was that UNRWA would move eligible Palestinian staff from the UN, along with their family members, to a safer location near the Rafah border. Additionally, they should have been provided a daily subsistence allowance for themselves and their dependents.
Further, to be eligible for coverage under the Malicious Act Insurance Policy (M.A.I.P), it’s necessary to be included in the UN Security Management System.
In accordance with the provisions set out by the M.A.I.P, families grieving the loss of UNRWA Palestinian staff who tragically lost their lives in Gaza should have received compensation totaling about 120,000 USD. However, the reality unfolds in a starkly different manner. The Commissioner-General of UNRWA ended up providing a meager sum of 300 USD to each affected UNRWA staff member. Furthermore, the bereaved families were considered for a compensatory amount of just 3000 USD, a fraction of the original amount they were entitled to – 120,000 USD.
The truth is that it’s not the intricate facets of the conflict that result in a lack of risk-mitigation strategies for local UNRWA staff, as suggested by the Secretary-General. Rather, the root lies in the core failures at the very top of the UN hierarchy. These Palestinian staff members are excluded from the UN Security Management System, and it certainly isn’t because of how the conflict has unfolded over time.
On Tuesday, 21 November 2023, the UNRWA Commissioner-General expressed remarks to the Agency’s Advisory Committee and said:
“…regarding the exclusion of national staff from insurance coverage… he stated that this issue was closely analyzed to see if it could be addressed and that it would have enormous cost implications if it was applied to the Agency, given that most expenses were covered by extrabudgetary resources.”(excerpt from official minutes of the meeting).
The facts are clearly laid out.
It seems as though the UN is treating the lives of the UNRWA Palestinian staff as less valuable compared to their other staff members. This might be why the UN hasn’t deemed it necessary to pursue measures to alleviate risks faced by the UNRWA Palestinian staff.
Evidence is pointing towards an alarming trend of bias and discrimination leveled against UNRWA Palestinian employees – a situation that decidedly necessitates an end.
The lapses shown by the United Nations in safeguarding their Palestinian staff within the UN warrant a thorough investigation.
