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At the end of 2006, the Palestinian
population worldwide was estimated to be
over 10.1 million. 70% of them (nearly 7.5
million) were refugees and internally
displaced persons. Six million Palestinians
have been refugees since 1948, and
approximately one million since 1967.
Approximately 450,000 Palestinians are
internally displaced persons in Israel and
the OPT, while the legal status of some
400,000 additional Palestinians is unclear.
The majority of the latter have likely been
forcibly displaced from or within the
occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip since 1967
as a result of Israeli policies. More than
two thirds of the Palestinian refugees live
in exile, in particular in Arab countries
surrounding Palestine (Jordan, Syria and
Lebanon), and approximately 20% of them live
in UNRWA-serviced refugee camps.
These data are released on World Refugee Day
by BADIL Resource Center based on systematic
review and analysis of available sources,
including the Palestinian Central Bureau of
Statistics (PCBS). Since 1948, no agency has
comprehensively registered displaced
Palestinians. However, data provided are
considered the best estimates as indicative
figures.
As the largest and longest unresolved
refugee case in the world approaches its 60th
year, Badil calls upon all parties to the
conflict to adopt a rights-based approach to
the search for durable solutions. In
particular, Badil calls upon Israel, the
United States and the European Union to
recognize the rights of Palestinian refugees
and IDPs to return to their homes of origin,
property restitution and compensation for
losses and damages incurred.
Since 1948, negotiations over the
Palestinian refugee issue have failed to put
international law at the center of the
search for durable solutions. So-called
“practical and realistic” solutions based on
the unequal balance of power between the
parties has instead been the chosen
framework, leaving little space for respect
for the rights of refugees and IDPs.
Addressing and resolving the issue of
Palestinian refugees and IDPs in accordance
with international law is, however, central
to building a just and lasting peace.
The lack of a rights-based approach has left
Palestinian refugees and IDPs particularly
vulnerable to renewed displacement and has
created a climate of impunity. In
the occupied Palestinian territories (OPT)
and Israel, displacement of Palestinians
continues as a result of Israel's quest for
control over a maximum amount of land with a
minimum number of Palestinian people.
The lack of
effective protection leaves Palestinian
refugees vulnerable to discrimination,
persecution and renewed forced displacement
also in their current host countries. In
Iraq, for instance, many are stranded on
border areas or live without access to
protection. Thousands more have been
displaced during Israel's war on Lebanon in
the summer of 2006 and the current conflict
in the Nahr el Bared camp.
Despite ongoing displacement, no national
and international response has been
developed to prevent, protect from and
respond to the forced displacement of
Palestinians.
Badil believes that international
organizations, in particular the United
Nations, need to urgently develop a response
to the ongoing forced displacement of
Palestinians in Israel and the occupied
Palestinian territories. Israel's government
and officials responsible for population
transfers (ethnic cleansing) must be held
accountable.
For additional data and information, see:
PCBS press release, World Refugee Day:
http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/
and:
2006 Survey of Palestinian Refugees and
Internally Displaced Persons, BADIL Resource
Center, (forthcoming).
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