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Palestinian refugees: in limbo forever?

Since 1948 the issue of Palestinian refugees has had a permanent place on the international political agenda. Events repeatedly demonstrate that there can be no Middle East peace without addressing their rights. A decade after the ‘breakthrough’ in Madrid, is there any chance that this difficult question can be resolved?

Sweden has been on the multilateral Refugee Working Group (RWG) from the outset of the peace process. A study from the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs analyses the Palestinian refugee crisis, the situation of those in the Palestinian diaspora and the mutual compromises required to arrive at a solution.

The legal status of Palestinian refugees is like that of no other displaced group. Their expulsion from Palestine/Israel predated the foundation of the UN High Commission for Refugees and so Palestinian refugees have no UNHCR protection. Neither do they enjoy the rights of the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees. None of the host countries with large populations of Palestinian refugees have ratified the Convention. Neither the Arab League decision in 1950 to grant resident and work permits to refugees, nor the 1964 resolution to give refugees the right to travel freely in the Arab world, has been implemented. Jordan is the only host nation to grant Palestinians citizenship.

Further key issues include:

Those who fled Palestine/Israel in 1967 are not registered with the UN Relief and Works Administration (UNRWA) and live as illegal residents.
The Lebanese government refuses to discuss any proposal to assimilate Palestinian refugees. Severe restrictions and competition from Syrian workers allowed into Lebanon means that half the men of working age are unemployed.
Most refugees in Lebanon cannot own property or start a business.
The rights of the estimated 100,000 Palestinian refugees in Egypt have been seriously eroded.
The peace process had made it harder for refugees in the West Bank and Gaza (respectively one third and three quarters of the total Palestinian population) to travel between the areas under control of the Palestinian Authority.
A fifth of the million Palestinians with Israeli citizenship are regarded as refugees by the Palestinian Authority.

Analysis of peace-brokering initiatives suggests:

Realistically only a limited number of refugees can ever return to their original homes. Israel and the international community should compensate those who cannot.
In terms of the applicability of the Dayton agreement to Palestine, in principle the international community is bound to facilitate the return of those driven from their homes, wherever they may live.

Source(s):
‘The Palestinian Refugees: after five decades of betrayal – time at last?’, Study paper 16, Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, by Thomas Hammarberg, 2000 Full document.

Funded by: Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs

id21 Research Highlight: 24 February 2003

Further Information:
Thomas Hammarberg
Box 836
SE 101 36 Stockholm
Sweden

Tel: +46 8 677 5770
Fax: +46 8 677 5771
Contact the contributor: thomas.hammarberg@palmecenter.se

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