The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was established by the General Assembly - Resolution 319(IV) - in 1949. It is the primary international body mandated to provide protection to refugees worldwide. This includes persons considered to be refugees under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.

The UN General Assembly established the UNHCR to: 1) provide international protection, and 2) to seek permanent solutions for the problem of refugees. Paragraph 8 of the 1950 UNHCR Statute lists nine components of the Agency’s mandate. These include promoting the conclusion and ratification of international conventions for the protection of refugees; promoting any measures calculated to improve the situation of refugees and to reduce the number requiring protection; and, assisting governmental and private efforts to promote voluntary repatriation or assimilation of refugees within new national communities.

According to paragraph 7 of the 1950 Statute, UNHCR does not have a mandate to provide protection to refugees receiving protection or assistance from other UN organs or agencies. The 1951 Refugee Convention includes special provisions for international protection of Palestinian refugees. Article 1D allows for the ipso facto (i.e., automatic) inclusion of 1948 and 1967 Palestinian refugees within the scope of the Convention in the case that either protection or assistance ceases for any reason. Due to the cessation of UNCCP protection in the mid-1950s, Palestinian refugees displaced in 1948 and 1967 are, therefore, considered to be refugees within the scope of the Convention. Convention refugees fall within the UNHCR mandate.

UNHCR provides international protection to those Palestinian refugees displaced in 1948 and 1967 who are in need of protection and who are outside the areas - i.e., West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria - where the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) provides assistance. Other Palestinians displaced after 1967, who are neither 1948 or 1967 refugees, and are considered refugees according to Article 1A of the 1951 Refugee Convention fall within UNHCR's protection mandate. There is no international agency with an explicit mandate to provide protection for Palestinian refugees in UNRWA areas of operation and for internally displaced Palestinians.

UNHCR protection activities for 1948 and 1967 Palestinian refugees are thus characterized by a limited degree of protection for a limited number of refugees based on geographical restrictions and subject to the cessation and exclusion clauses in the UNHCR Statute and the 1951 Refugee Convention. Protection activities for these groups of Palestinian refugees are limited generally to: assistance concerning travel documents; renewal of registration cards for refugees outside the areas of UNRWA operations; and, facilitation of interim solutions for Palestinian refugees in recent cases of forced departure from Arab host countries.

UNHCR’s approach to 1948 and 1967 Palestinian refugees may be explained by a variety of factors, including: the absence of an inclusion clause for Palestinian refugees in the 1950 Statute of the UNHCR, similar to the second clause of Article 1D of the 1951 Refugee Convention; the perception that the ‘political character’ of the Palestinian refugee case is incompatible with the ‘neutral character’ of UNHCR protection activities; financial concerns related to the inclusion of millions of additional refugees in UNHCR programs; and, Western and Arab opposition to the inclusion of all Palestinian refugees within UNHCR's protection mandate.

Related BADIL Publications:

• UNHCR, Palestinian Refugees and Durable Solutions

• A Critical Analysis of the Revised UNHCR Interpretation of the Status of Palestinian Refugees under International Refugee Law