UNRWA Warns of Seizure and Closure of Qalandia Training School Takes Away Palestinian Refugee Rights

Illustration of UNRWA headquarters. (Source: UNRWA)

JAKARTA - The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) warned on Tuesday that unlawful closures or seizures of the Qalandia Training School by Israeli authorities would deprive Palestinian refugees of vital education and vocational training services provided under the agency's mandate from the United Nations General Assembly.

The warning was delivered during an online briefing by the director of UNRWA affairs in the West Bank, Roland Friedrich, as part of a media tour organized by the school to highlight its work and the ongoing Israeli threats against it.

Friedrich said that the Qalandia Training School is the first and oldest vocational training institution of UNRWA, which was established more than 70 years ago, and has graduated thousands of Palestinian refugees who have entered the local and regional labor market, quoted from WAFA (4/8).

Furthermore, he emphasized, the school is a UN facility protected by privileges and immunities guaranteed under international law.

He explained that the university receives hundreds of Palestinian refugee students from across the occupied West Bank every year, aged between 15 and 19 years old, providing free vocational education, especially given the difficult social and economic conditions faced by refugees.

Friedrich said the college had faced a sustained threat from Israeli authorities in recent months to close and confiscate the facility, stressing that the entry of Israeli forces into the location without prior permission was a violation of the United Nations Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the Press.

The warning comes amid Israel's escalating threats to evacuate the college and seize its buildings after Israeli forces raided the campus five times since the start of the year.

The most significant raids took place on February 18, May 11, June 30, and July 27, when Israeli forces, accompanied by police officers and officials from the Israeli municipality in occupied Jerusalem, detained around 80 students who were attending training activities, along with 45 staff members, preventing them from leaving the campus without showing any official notice or document.

The media tour included a visit to the college facilities and a review of vocational programs and training provided to hundreds of students from the refugee camps.

Located north of occupied Jerusalem, facing the Qalandia refugee camp, the college has an area of 88 dunums and currently serves about 270 students enrolled in 16 vocational specialties.

The college also provides dormitory accommodation, nursing services, counseling, awareness programs, and vocational guidance. The college graduates between 250 and 300 students each year.

In October 2024, the Israeli Knesset passed two laws, one prohibiting UNRWA activities in areas that Israel considers its sovereign territory, and the other prohibiting official contact with the agency.