Press Releases

Report and Suggestions for Follow-up: Workshop on Palestinian Refugee Protection – Beirut (June 2003)

BADIL Resource Center
09 June 2003
For Immediate Release


From 2-3 June 2003 approximately 40 participants from Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine met in Beirut to discuss protection rights, needs and strategies for Palestinian refugees. Participants included activists, Palestinian, Lebanese and international NGOs, academics, legal experts, politicians, and journalists. The workshop, which was organized by the A’idun Group (Lebanon and Syria) and BADIL Resource Center (Palestine) was hosted by the Institute of Palestine Studies (Beirut).

During the first day of the workshop, presentations covered the meaning of refugee protection and the international protection regime (Lex Takkenberg), comparative analysis of legal status and protection needs of Palestinians in Lebanon and Syria (Jaber Suleiman), and international mechanisms available for day-to-day protection and durable solutions for Palestinian refugees (Terry Rempel). Debate and discussion focused on clarification of the concept of refugee protection as it applies to Palestinian refugees; similarities and differences in protection gaps – and underlying reasons for these gaps – in various host countries; and which international body or bodies – UNCCP, UNRWA, and/or UNHCR – should be responsible for protection of Palestinian refugees and the search for durable solutions (right of return, restitution, compensation based on refugee choice).

The second day focused on a critical review of past and current Palestinian and Arab efforts for improving refugee protection. Presentations covered efforts in Palestine (Terry Rempel) including the experience of NGO dialogue with relevant international bodies, tools for education and awareness-raising, the use of UN human rights treaty bodies, and more recent efforts to bring together relevant experts and international policy makers; and in Arab host states (Suheil Natour) including the role of the Arab League, and the specific experience and problems of refugee protection in Jordan, Egypt, Iraq and Libya. Specific attention was given to marginalized groups of Palestinian refugees (e.g., ex-Gazans living in Jordan), the serious but little known protection gap in Egypt, which is comparatively not less worse than that in Lebanon, and the more recent problem of Palestinian refugees in Iraq following the US-UK led war and occupation of the country.

During the final session, participants discussed strategies for advocacy and follow-up. Participants emphasized that:

  • More systematic efforts are urgently needed to remedy severe gaps in international protection for Palestinian refugees. The lack of effective international protection is also a threat to the right of return.
  • Efforts to identify and find the most appropriate remedy to the protection gap – that will also protect the basic rights of Palestinian refugees to durable solutions (right of return, restitution, and compensation) as affirmed in Resolution 194 and international law – have started late. Urgent efforts should be made to unify strategies, language, and work on this issue.
  • Education, awarness-raising and popular mobilization on needs and strategies for international protection of Palestinian refugees should involve a wider spectrum of the refugee community. In addition, basic concepts and principles of refugee rights and refugee protection should be covered in the UNRWA curriculum.
  • More systematic efforts are required to address specific problems in host countries. Palestinian NGOs and civil society should work in coordination with NGOs and civil society in host countries to identify protection gaps and lobby relevant government officials and political parties for effective protection of the day-to-day rights of Palestinian refugees (e.g., employment, education, freedom of movement, documentation papers, etc.), including full compliance with international conventions to which they are signatories, pending a durable solution consistent with Resolution 194.
  • More systematic efforts are also required to raise awareness in the international community about the protection gaps facing Palestinian refugees as well as potential remedies. Donor countries should also be lobbied to fully fund UNRWA health, education and social services, with special attention to the problem in Lebanon.
  • Special efforts are required to raise awareness about protection needs of especially vulnerable groups of Palestinian refugees, including Palestinian refugees without documents, and Palestinian refugees in Egypt and Iraq.
  • The PLO should reactivate offices in host countries, especially in Lebanon, in order to effectively provide legal assistance to refugees, especially those without documents.
  • Urgent efforts are required to resolve the question of which international mechanism/s is responsible for the protection of Palestinian refugees and the search for durable solutions. The role of the UNCCP, UNRWA and UNHCR, should each be taken into consideration, without preference to any one agency. The mandates of each should be expanded accordingly to ensure effective international protection for all Palestinian refugees. International protection of Palestinian refugees, moreover, should be guided by standards of international law and not subject to political interference.
  • A second follow-up workshop on Palestinian refugee protection should be held in Lebanon in order to include a wider spectrum of NGOs and refugees.

Based on suggestions of the participants the entire proceedings of the two-day workshop will be published and disseminated in Arabic and English as soon as possible.