The Palestine Refugees

With the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, over 750,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes and their land. Many came from the 531 Palestinian towns and villages that were depopulated and destroyed. After Israel captured the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1967, a second wave of Palestinians - approximately 350, 000 - became refugees, many for the second time.

Today, there are almost five million Palestinian refugees, of whom about 3.8 million are registered with and receive services from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Refugees make up about two thirds of the entire Palestinian population.

Where are the refugees?

Palestinians are scattered all around the world. The refugee population is concentrated mainly within the area of British-era Mandate Palestine and in neighboring Arab states. About one million of these refugees live in refugee camps. Over 1.7 million Palestinian refugees live in Jordan. About 14% inhabit the 10 camps around the country. Jordan is the only state to have given citizenship to Palestinian refugees, though there remain hundreds of thousands of 1967 refugees from Gaza who do not possess Jordanian passports. Syria's Palestinian refugee population amounts to over 400,000. About 21% of these live in the 10 refugee camps in the country. Palestinians in Syria hold special travel documents, but are otherwise integrated into the Syrian economy.

Lebanon has over 400,000 refugees, with 50% in 12 refugee camps. These Palestinians face some of the worst living conditions of all Palestinian refugees. They are denied employment in over 70 job categories and face uncertain residency in the country. Over 40% of the 1,416,000 refugees in the West Bank and Gaza inhabit the 27 refugee camps in the area. The Gaza Strip has the highest concentration: 70% of Gaza's population are refugees. All Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza are required to carry Israeli-issued identity cards at all times. Refugees face especially hard economic and social conditions under Israeli measures to restrict their activities and freedom of movement.

What are the rights of refugees?

International laws and conventions recognize the right of Palestinians to return to their homeland.

• The United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194 (December 1948): "(...) Resolves that the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for the loss or damage to property..."
  
  
• Articles 13 and 17 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) affirms that: Everyone has the right to leave his or her country and return to his or her country. Everyone has a right to freedom of movement within the borders of each state.
  
  
• The Fourth UN Geneva Conventions (1949) asserts the right of return for refugees driven out by war.
  
  
• UN General Assembly Resolution 3236 (1974) affirms the Palestinian right of self-determination and national independence and sovereignty and the inalienable right of Palestinians to return to their homes and lands.

The Situation of Refugees after Oslo

The signing of the first Oslo agreement in 1993 paved the way for renewed attention to the long-neglected issue of Palestinian refugees. Final Status issues are due to be negotiated in the year 2000. Along with borders, the fate of Jerusalem, settlements, and water, the refugee issue lies at the core of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

Israel has taken advantage of interim negotiations during Oslo to create "facts on the ground" that seek to preclude a return of refugees to their homes - even within the West Bank and Gaza. For example, under Oslo, Israel retains military control over all the occupied territories, and has reserved over 60% of the West Bank for its own exclusive use. The number of Jewish settlements and settlers continues to expand under Oslo, with close to 200 settlements and over 380,000 Jewish settlers in the West Bank alone.