Refugees
General
The Palestinian refugee case is the largest and one of the longest standing refugee cases in the world today. More than 6 million persons, comprising around three-quarters of the Palestinian people, and nearly one-third of the global refugee population, remain without a durable solution to their plight.
Aid and Development
A number of humanitarian agencies, most notably, UNRWA, provide aid, education, health and water to refugees. This is not always easy. Israel blocks access to food and medical care, leaving refugees increasingly vulnerable.
Historical Events
Palestinians have experienced several periods of major displacement, beginning in 1947-48 during the first Arab-Zionist/Israeli war, followed by a second major displacement in the 1967 War, the 1991 Gulf War when some 350,000 Palestinians were displaced from Kuwait and again as recently as 2003, when Palestinians were evicted from Baghdad. Additional displacement has resulted from Israeli government policies and practices inside Israel and in the 1967 occupied Palestinian territories, including land confiscation, house demolition, revocation of residency status, and deportation, as well as government policies and armed conflict in various countries of asylum in the region.
Multimedia
Images of refugees, the camps and their lives. Magazines and journals offer in-depth analyses, personal stories and statistics on Palestinian refugees and information on the protection of their rights.
Palestinian refugees in Iraq
After the fall of Baghdad to the US-led coalition on April 9, 2003, many Palestinian refugees were forced out of homes in Iraq, some under the threat of arms. UNHCR said at least 186 Palestinians were murdered in Baghdad between April 2004 and January 2007, while about 15,000 Palestinians remain in Iraq, less than half the number who had lived there previously.
Refugees and "Peace Initiatives"
Durable solutions to refugee flows include repatriation, host country integration and third-country resettlement. Each of these solutiosn is guided by the principle of voluntariness or refugee choice. Repatriation (i.e., the right of return) is also linked to the right to restitution of property. Of these three durable solutions, only return is recognized as a fundamental right in international law.
Refugees Under Attack
Palestinian refugees are vulnerable. Unlike other refugees, no international agency currently provides protection for Palestinian refugees. International refugee protection includes the promotion of refugees' human rights on a day-to-day basis and the implementation of durable solutions based on individual refugee choice.
The Right of Return
A wide range of international legal instruments, including human rights law, humanitarian law, law of nationality, UN resolutions, bilateral and regional agreements, domestic law, as well as general legal principles considered to be binding recognize the right of refugees to return to their places of origin. Many of these same legal instruments also recognize the right to restitution of property.
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