The Polish Government which has never contributed to the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the 17 years of that organization’s existence, announced today that it was bypassing the agency and would render its own “immediate assistance to the populations of Jordan, Syria and Egypt suffering as the result of Israel’s military assault.”
Like the Soviet Union, which made a similar announcement yesterday, the Polish Government, in its communication to the Secretary-General, made no reference to the fact that it had voted for a General Assembly declaration appealing to all nations to increase their support of UNRWA to enable it to cope with the refugee situation.
The Polish letter, like that of the Soviet Union, argued that “the responsibility for all damages and tragic consequences of the aggression against the Arab states should be borne entirely by Israel.”
The letter announced that Poland had decided to contribute 430 million zlotys in kind. (At the unofficial rate, this would be the equivalent of $430,000.) The aid will be in the form of medicines, food, blankets, clothing and household articles.
United Nations auditors reported today that UNRWA had a deficit of $1,170,369 in its operations for 1966. It reported income from governmental and non-governmental sources of $36,328,051 and expenditures and commitments for the year totaling $37,498,420. The deficit was covered out of the working capital fund of the United Nations.
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