Press Releases
BADIL is proud to announce the release of the 10th installment of its Survey of Palestinian Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), which focuses on the period between 2019 and 2021.
By the end of 2021, it is estimated that 9.17 million of the 14 million Palestinians worldwide (65.5 percent) are forcibly displaced persons. Among them are approximately 8.36 million Palestinian refugees and 812,000 IDPs, forming the largest and most protracted population of externally displaced refugees.
In the three years since the last survey, the Palestinian people have experienced an ever more repressive and limited space within which to collectively demand and exercise their national and individual rights. This has been characterized principally by the rapid advancement of Israeli repressive colonial-apartheid policies throughout Mandatory Palestine, and coupled with the renewed attacks on the rights Palestinian refugees and human rights activists, particularly via the increase of conditional funding requirements placed on UNRWA and Palestinian civil society organizations (CSOs), along with the aggressive escalation of murder, harassment, and arrest and torture of Palestinian youth.
It is in this context that BADIL elected to focus this survey on one of the most essential tools used in the realization of Palestinian rights and in the struggle against Zionist-Israeli colonization: the political participation of Palestinian youth, particularly refugee youth.
This survey addresses the question of Palestinian refugees across five chapters. Chapter One discusses the ongoing Nakba, while Chapter Two highlights the population size and demographic characteristics of Palestinian refugees and IDPs. As for Chapter Three, it addresses the overall legal international protection framework and the protection gap that Palestinian refugees and IDPs suffer from. In Chapter Four, the situation of Palestinian refugees in a number of Arab and Western host states is expanded upon.
In Chapter Five, BADIL turns to the question of the political participation of Palestinian youth, particularly refugee youth, which suffers from a scarcity of data despite the fact that Palestinian youth have consistently engaged in political participation as a form of anti-colonial resistance throughout history. The chapter delves into the main findings of the questionnaire, comprised of six focused, closed-ended questions. The data was obtained via field research from a sample of Palestinian refugees and IDPs across six locations: 1948 Palestine, the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. The purpose of this study is to shed light on the avenues and activities that Palestinian youth engage in, the objectives and reasons for their participation, what they perceive as obstacles that prevent them from engaging in political participation, and ways to further activate political participation. The report on the questionnaire reviews the levels, avenues, and effectiveness of Palestinian youth political participation, along with how to achieve political participation in an effective and influential manner.
The Survey, including complete data results from the youth questionnaire, has been published online and will be officially launched through a conference that will take place on the November 9th. Please follow BADIL on social media or join our newsletter for more information.
See also: Brochure 1: Palestinian Refugees and IDPs: Survey 2019-2021
See also: Brochure 2: Palestinian Refugee and IDP Youth's Views on Political Participation
