BEIRUT, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian refugees in Lebanon's Ain El Helwe camp demonstrated Wednesday, urging the UN General Assembly to renew the mandate of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees during its meeting on Thursday, local media reported.
Refugees held signs calling upon the United Nations to support the Palestinian people and to renew the mandate of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which is a living witness to Palestinians catastrophic situation, according to Elnashra, an online independent newspaper.
The UNRWA has been facing tough financial conditions as the United States announced last year that it will no longer contribute to the agency.
The UNRWA provides aid, mostly in the form of education, health care, food security and other essentials, to some Palestinians registered as refugees in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.
Some reports show that 450,000 Palestinian refugees are registered with the UNRWA, representing about 10 percent of Lebanon's population.
However, a study by the Lebanese Palestinian Dialogue Committee in 2017 states that there are 174,422 registered Palestinians in Lebanon.
