Tuesday
22nd Oct 2024
Dhivehi Edition
Minister Khaleel, Photo: TMJ.
Foreign Minister Dr. Abdulla Khaleel has been summoned to Parliament to confirm if the funds raised in a telethon conducted by state media for Palestinian aid have been handed over to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). The telethon, titled “Maldivians with Palestine,” held on June 12, collected RF 19 million to support the affected people of Palestine.
Opposition MP Mikaeel Naseem of the Galolhu South constituency had proposed questioning Minister Abdulla Khaleel to confirm that the funds raised have been delivered to UNRWA. He also requested clarification regarding any delays in transferring the money, should it not have been handed over yet, and asked for a specific date by which the funds will be transferred.
In August, the Ministry of External Affairs stated that the funds had been transferred through the Finance Ministry and the Maldives central bank to the United Nations. The Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees, created in 1949 to provide essential services like food, medical care, and education to Palestinians, has been managing the fund.
The telethon followed the Nakba, a 1948 event in which more than 700,000 Palestinians were displaced from their homes after Israel annexed Palestinian territories, a tragedy that continues to impact Palestinian refugees today.