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The collapse of UNCCP protection, limited
intervention by the UNHCR, non-implementation of recommendations of key
UN human rights bodies, and inadequate protection by national
authorities has resulted in severe gaps in international protection for
Palestinian refugees and displaced persons. This is referred to as the
‘protection gap.’ |
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Institutional Gaps |
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The
international community currently recognizes no international agency
as having an explicit mandate to provide comprehensive protection to
all Palestinian refugees in need of such protection. The UN
Conciliation Commission for Palestine ceased providing protection
for Palestinian refugees in the early 1950s. It does not have a
mandate to protect Palestinian refugees and others displaced after
1948. The UNHCR does not provide protection to those Palestinian
refugees residing in UNRWA areas of operation - i.e., West Bank,
Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.
Practically this anomaly means
that some five million Palestinian refugees and displaced persons
(excluding those who have acquired citizenship and effective
national protection), or one-third of the world’s total refugee
population, do not have access to systematic international
protection. For many Palestinian refugees and displaced persons, it
is unclear what rights are subject to international protection,
under what conditions refugees and displaced persons may access
international protection, and to whom to turn to for international
protection. |
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Interpretation and Implementation of Standards |
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Application of the
1951 Convention
Relating to the Status of Refugees, which delineates the rights
of refugees and concomitant obligations of states generally, is
partial and inconsistent and varies according to geographical area.
Only nine members of the League of Arab States where the majority of
Palestinian refugees reside in exile have ratified the Convention. Elsewhere, states do not apply
Article 1D, do so but based on an incorrect interpretation, or only
apply Article 1A to all groups of Palestinian refugees.
Implementation of LAS regional standards is poor.
The protection gap is evident
in all areas where Palestinian refugees and displaced persons reside
in exile today, with the situation concerning protection of
fundamental human rights and humanitarian norms most severe in
Lebanon, the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Iraq and Egypt. In many areas Palestinian refugees and
displaced persons are denied basic economic, social, cultural, civil and
political rights. In Lebanon, Palestinian refugees are
barred from employment in some 70 professions. Palestinian refugees have
also been denied physical protection. Refugee camps in 1967 occupied
Palestine have come under repeated attack by Israeli military forces. |
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UN
Initiatives |
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The United Nations has identified and
expressed concern about the international protection gap for several
decades.
UN Security Council
Resolution 605 called upon the Secretary General to submit
recommendations on the “ways and means for ensuring the safety and
protection of Palestinian civilians under Israeli occupation.” Palestinian
refugees comprise half the population of 1967 occupied Palestine.
The Secretary General recommended that UNRWA add additional
international staff; consider the appointment of a UN ombudsman for the
occupied territories; and, that the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth
Geneva Conventions use all means at their disposal to persuade Israel to
respect the Convention in all circumstances.
Security Council
Resolution 681 requested the Secretary
General to monitor the situation of Palestinians under Israeli
occupation and submit a report of the General Assembly every four
months. The initiative was suspended in 1991 following interventions
by the United States.
The
General Assembly has issued numerous resolutions
calling for international protection for Palestinian refugees and for the
cessation of attacks on Palestinian refugee camps. Between 1982 and 1993, the Assembly issued annual resolutions calling upon
the UN Secretary General, in consultation with UNRWA “to undertake
effective measures to guarantee the safety and security and the legal and
human rights of the Palestinian refugees in the occupied territories.”
From the early 1970s to the late 1980s the General Assembly also called
for the protection of refugee camps.
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