UNRWA warns against seizure of Qalandia Training College
UNRWA has warned that any Israeli step to close or seize the Qalandia Training College would deprive thousands of Palestinian refugees of education and vocational training. The agency's director in the West Bank, Roland Friedrich, stressed that the college faces ongoing threats, citing five incursions since the beginning of the year and the 2024 Knesset laws.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has warned that any step taken by the Israeli occupation authorities to close or seize the Qalandia Training College would result in depriving thousands of Palestinian refugees of the education and vocational training services provided by the agency under its UN mandate. This was stated by Roland Friedrich, UNRWA's director in the West Bank, during a Zoom meeting with a number of journalists, as part of a media tour organized by the college to highlight its situation and the ongoing Israeli threats against it. Friedrich explained that the Qalandia Training College is the first and oldest vocational training institute established by UNRWA more than 70 years ago, and thousands of Palestinian refugees have graduated from it and joined local and regional labor markets, noting that it is a UN facility that enjoys the privileges and immunities guaranteed by international law. He added that the college annually receives hundreds of students from Palestinian refugees in the West Bank, aged between 15 and 19, and provides them with free vocational education, amid the difficult economic and social conditions refugees face. Friedrich stressed that the college has faced ongoing Israeli threats of closure and seizure of its buildings for months, emphasizing that the incursion of occupation forces into the facility without prior permission constitutes a violation of the UN Convention on Privileges and Immunities. These warnings come amid escalating Israeli measures against the college, after it was subjected to five incursions since the beginning of this year, and in the context of laws passed by the Israeli Knesset in October 2024, which prohibit UNRWA activities in areas Israel considers under its sovereignty, and also prevent any official contact with the agency.