Palästina: "Katastrophaler" ökonomischer und sozialer Niedergang in den besetzten Gebieten / Palestine: "Dire" economic and social crisis in occupied territories
Internationale Arbeitsorganisation (ILO) verlangt Sofortmaßnahmen / ILO calls for urgent measures
anlässlich einer Konferenz der Internationalen Arbeitsorganisation (ILO), die vom 3. bis 20. Juni 2002 in Genf stattfindet, legte die UN-Organisation einen Bericht über die Lage der Menschen in den von Israel besetzten Gebieten vor. Der Generaldirektor der ILO, Juan Somavía, hat die internationale Gemeinschaft aufgefordert, für eine Öffnung der Grenzen
zwischen Israel und den Palästinensergebieten, die
Wiederbeschäftigung der Palästinenser in Israel sowie die Einbindung
der Arbeitnehmer beider Seiten in den Friedensprozeß
einzutreten. Jede
Konfliktlösung sollte auf Dialog basieren,
durch den auch die
Beschäftigten in den besetzten arabischen
Gebieten und ihre
Familien eine faire Anhörung erhielten, betonte
der ILO-Chef in
seinem Bericht für die Konferenz.
Einzelheiten aus dem Bericht, der in englischer Sprache erschienen ist und angefordert werden kann (Literaturangabe am Ende*) und der von Somavía in einer Presseverlautbarung zusammengefasst wurde:
Der sozioökonomische Niedergang der besetzten
palästinensischen Gebiete wird durch die tiefe
humanitäre
Krise weiter vorangetrieben, die
palästinensische Familien
derzeit durchlitten. Die
»Weltgemeinschaft«
ist aufgerufen, Notmaßnahmen zu unterstützen,
die
Arbeitsplätze schaffen und einen sozialen
Dialog zwischen
Israelis und Palästinensern ermöglichen.
Eine ILO-Mission in der Region hatte
festgestellt, daß die
Grenzschließungen und -kontrollen zwischen den
besetzten
Gebieten und Israel sowie den Nachbarländern zu
erheblichen
wirtschaftlichen Einbußen führen. So sanken die
Löhne von in
Israel arbeitenden Palästinensern im letzten
Jahr um 46
Prozent. Im gleichen Zeitraum gingen die
Einkünfte der
palästinensischen Autonomiebehörde, die über
einen Teil des
Territoriums bestimmt, auf dem die
Palästinenser einen
eigenen Staat errichten wollen, um mehr als 70
Prozent
zurück.
In dem Bericht werden die enormen
Beschädigungen von Infrastruktur und Farmland
infolge der
eskalierenden Gewalt beklagt. Allein die Kosten für den
Wiederaufbau
der Gebäude und Infrastruktur im Westjordanland
werden auf
mindestens 432 Millionen US-Dollar geschätzt.
In den palästinensischen Gebieten ist das
Bruttoinlandsprodukt (BIP) um zwölf Prozent
zurückgegangen
und das Bruttonationalprodukt (GNI) - eine
Kombination aus
BIP und der im Ausland erzielten Einkünfte, wie
sie die
Palästinenser beispielsweise in Israel
erwirtschaften - um 18,7
Prozent. Die ILO weist ferner darauf hin, daß
der Anteil der
Palästinenser, die von weniger als 2,1 Dollar
pro Tag leben
müssen, von 21 Prozent 1999 auf 33 Prozent 2000
und 46
Prozent 2001 gestiegen ist. In diesem Jahr
könnte sich der
Anteil der Armen auf 62 Prozent erhöhen.
Der Krieg hat auch negative wirtschaftliche
Auswirkungen für
Israel. So sank das BIP im letzten Jahr um 0,5
Prozent,
nachdem die Wirtschaft im Jahr zuvor ein
6,4-prozentiges
Wachstum verbucht hatte. "Palästinenser und
Israelis zahlen
einen sehr hohen Preis für Besatzung und
Gewalt", heißt es in
dem neuen ILO-Bericht.
Somavía ist davon überzeugt, daß eine graduelle
Öffnung der
Grenzen die verheerende humanitäre Lage der
palästinensischen Arbeiter und ihrer Familien
verbessern, die
Arbeitslosigkeit in den besetzen Gebieten
deutlich lindern und
somit langfristig zu einer Entschärfung des
Konflikts und der
Wiederaufnahme von ernst gemeinten
Friedensgesprächen
führen würde.
Zusammenfassung nach: junge welt, 1. Juni 2002
ILO calls for urgent measures to ease "dire"
economic and social crisis in occupied territories
Thursday 30 May 2002
(ILO/02/24)
GENEVA (ILO News) - Citing what it called a "socio-economic meltdown" in
the Israeli-occupied territories, the International
Labour Office (ILO) today called on Israel to ease restrictions on the
movement of Palestinian workers and urged the
international community to support emergency measures aimed at creating
jobs and promoting social dialogue between Israelis
and Palestinians.
In a new report* to be presented by Director-General Juan Somavia to
the 90th Session of the annual International Labour
Conference on June 3-20, the ILO documents the "socio-economic meltdown
in the occupied territories resulting from the
present stage of the conflict and the deep humanitarian crisis which
Palestinian families are living through."
The report also cites "the very negative impact on the Israeli economy"
and reflects "the sense of insecurity in Israel."
The report is based on the findings of an ILO mission to the occupied
territories of the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan on 27
April-6 May and to Syria Arab Republic and Cairo - including a meeting
with the Governing Body of the Arab Labour
Organization - which was carried out at a time when "dialogue between
the two sides was virtually non-existent."
In addition to calling for an easing of border closures, the report
cites two major policy measures for immediate consideration -
increased technical assistance to the occupied territories and the
promotion of social dialogue to ease tensions.
The report said immediate measures and responses are needed as well as
an enhanced medium-term programme of technical
cooperation.
"A gradual lifting of the (border) closures would go a long way toward
alleviating the dire situation of Palestinian workers and
families," the report said. "Likewise, measures to resume employment of
Palestinian workers in Israel would serve to reduce the
dramatically-high level of unemployment. Both these measures would
greatly ease the present crisis and facilitate the resumption
of political discussions on a peaceful settlement of the conflict."
Regarding technical assistance, the Director-General calls for an
enlarged programme of technical cooperation, creating a
Palestinian Employment and Social Fund and providing assistance to the
Palestinian National Authority and local authorities as
well as trade unions and employers to help ease unemployment, protect
workers rights and promote social protection and
social dialogue.
Noting the donor community's readiness to "pursue its humanitarian
effort to alleviate immediate hardship and start
reconstructing damaged infrastructure", Mr. Somavia said the
international community and those countries with greater influence
"need to reassess the means of action so we can respond to what all
families in the region want: parents at work, children at
school, security in the streets and peace in the community. This
continues to be the innermost aspiration of the large majority of
Palestinians and Israelis. The world must help them to get there."
Pledging full ILO support for social dialogue between Israelis and
Palestinians, Mr. Somavia said the report "must be read with
a sense of empathy and compassion for all concerned," adding that "this
is not a conventional policy prescription in times of
strife, but I am deeply convinced that it is necessary today."
"Any resolution of the conflict must be based on dialogue where the
voice of workers in the occupied Arab territories and their
families get a fair hearing in order to assist them in their hope of
achieving conditions of decent work," Mr. Somavia said. "At
the same time, the voices of workers in Israel must be heard and
listened to. No one can be satisfied with the present situation
or, worse still, a further escalation of conflict."
A "widespread humanitarian crisis"
ILO investigators reported that Israeli border closures and check points
between the occupied territories and Israel and
neighbouring countries had drastically affected the economy of the
region. Real wages for Palestinian workers in Israel dropped
by nearly 46 per cent in 2001 compared to the preceding year while the
revenue of the Palestinian Authority plummeted by
more than 70 per cent.
"The escalation of violence and the military occupation of the
territories have caused great physical damage to the infrastructure
and agricultural land," the report said. Preliminary figures put the
cost of reconstruction of public and private buildings and
infrastructure in the West Bank alone at some USD 432 million.
Real growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the Palestinian areas
declined by 12 per cent in 2001 and real Gross
National Income (GNI) - the sum of GDP and of factor income earned
aboard (wages of Palestinian workers earned in Israel)
- dropped by 18.7 per cent, according to the report.
It noted that more than 90 per cent of the Palestinian population
depends on some form of income from work in the occupied
territories. "Any fall in employment and/or in income from work,
immediately translates into reduced consumption and welfare,"
the report said. Preliminary ILO estimates suggest that "unemployment
could have reached nearly 43 per cent in the occupied
territories during the first quarter (January-March) of 2002."
The percentage of the population living in poverty (less than USD 2.1
per day) increased from 21 per cent in 1999 to 33 per
cent in 2000 and 46 per cent in 2001. The figure could possibly reach 62
per cent in 2002, the report said.
Israel had not escaped the upheaval, according to the report. Economic
activity in Israel suffered a severe contraction during
2001 with GDP declining by 0.5 per cent during 2001 after an increase of
6.4 per cent in 2000.
The Israeli economy has been seriously affected by three economic
shocks: the slowdown in the world economy in the second
half of 2000, the worsening of the security situation in relation to the
Intifada outbreak of September 2000, and the aftermath of
the attacks of 11 September.
"High-tech industries have been most affected by declining activity in
the US economy, followed by a 50 per cent drop in
tourist arrivals in 2001 as a result of Sept. 11 and the worsening
internal security situation," the report said. "Construction sector
activity has been severely disorganized by the sudden withdrawal of some
55,000 Palestinian workers, as well as falling
domestic demand and public investment. These cumulative shocks have
spread to the entire economy..."
Unemployment in Israel rose continuously throughout 2001, from 8.1 per
cent in the first quarter to 10.5 in the last quarter -
equivalent to 267,000 persons. "Some 30,000 reservists have been called
into active duty in the first quarter of 2002, with
possible adverse effects on business activities," the report said. This
situation has led to a downgrading of Israel's rating outlook
by the international agency Standard and Poor's on 11 April 2002 from
"stable" to "negative."
The ILO report concluded that "Palestinian and Israeli populations are
paying a very high price for occupation and violence.
The economic and social situation in the occupied territories is
deteriorating daily with rising levels of poverty and
unemployment which has become in practice a widespread humanitarian
crisis."
Mr. Somavia said the present situation cannot continue. Noting the words
of the ILO Constitution that "poverty anywhere
constitutes a danger to prosperity everywhere," the report declared that
"security in Israel cannot be separated from security for
the Palestinian population living in the occupied territories."
* Report of the Director-General: Appendix. Report on the situation of
workers of the occupied Arab Territories, International Labour
Conference, 90th Session, June 2002, International Labour Office,
Geneva. ISBN 92-2-112426-6. Price: 12.50 Swiss Francs.
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