The concept of citizenship has three key elements, namely the right
to individual freedom, the right to political participation and the
right to share fully in the social heritage of the nation (Marshal,
1950, p. 8). To these one may add psychological and cultural
dimensions: the feelings of the individual, feelings of membership,
belonging and loyalty to the nation (Hammar, 1989, p. 85). A people
become a nation when it firmly recognizes certain natural rights
and duties to each other by virtue of shared membership and common
state institutions (Giddens, 1987). So statelessness is the
condition where a people find itself without these institutions,
which ultimately leads to the absence of formal or definite
recognition of its rights and duties. As refugees of a non-state,
Palestinians leave their status to be defined by nations where they
reside, without enjoying any international legal protection.
This study will focus on the socioeconomic and political impact of
statelessness on Palestinians living in refugee camps, with
specific reference to those in Lebanon and Jordan. It draws a
comparison between such an impact on the refugees living in
Lebanon, a host country which is reluctant to accept them, and on
those residing in Jordan, a country which has granted them full
citizenship. It also examines to what extent that citizenship has
been able to satisfy the refugees' political and socioeconomic
demands.
The Palestinian refugee issue has been described as one of the main
problems of the Middle East, one which has its roots in the
establishment, in 1948, of the State of Israel on three-quarters of
the land of Palestine, causing the flight of those refugees. Today,
the number of registered refugees and their dependents is around
three million, out of whom one million are still living in camps
(UNRWA, 1993). UNRWA figures show that 10 percent of Palestinian
refugees live in Lebanon and 28 percent in Jordan. However, 18
percent of the total refugee population in Lebanon live in camps,
compared to 13 percent of those living in Jordan (UNRWA,
1993).
Palestinian refugees who hold the citizenship of their host country
enjoy better living conditions than those who do not, as
illustrated in the case of the refugees in Lebanon and Jordan.
However, for both groups, indeed for the Palestinian people as a
whole, their political aspirations cannot be satisfied without
citizenship in their own state.
The Legal Status of Palestinian Refugees
The General Assembly of the United Nations adopted Resolution
428(v) of December 14, 1950, whereby the statute of the office of
the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) became
codified. The main function of the UNHCR is, specifically, to
provide international protection for refugees who fall within the
scope of its statute, and to seek permanent solutions to the
problems of refugees. Although there has been some serious
criticism of the international conventions dealing with the
fundamental rights and freedom of refugees, Palestinian refugees
have been excluded from even such protection. This is due to item
(c) of paragraph 7 of Resolution 428(v) mentioned earlier which
says that the protection of the UNHCR shall not extend to a person
"who continues to receive from other organs or agencies of the
United Nations protection or assistance" (Jaegar, 1988).
Palestinian refugees are currently receiving assistance from the
United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) which was
established by Resolution 302(v) on December 9, 1949 and which has,
thus, excluded them from international protection. Indeed, UNRWA
was not entrusted with any protection duties in the legal area
(Jaeger, 1988, p. 6), leaving Palestinian refugees under national
protection only.
It is possible to classify Palestinian refugees into three
categories. The first are those who were registered and were
regarded as legitimate refugees by the states in which they resided
(either in or outside of camps), and live in one of the countries
where UNRWA provides relief (the West Bank and the Gaza Strip,
Jordan, Lebanon and Syria). The second are those who reside in
countries where UNRWA operates, but were not registered with UNRWA,
either because they were not in economic need or missed the
deadline to register (FAFO, 1994, p. 24). Finally, there are those
who could not register because they reside in countries where UNRWA
does not operate, such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the Gulf
States, Europe, South America, etc. (Samha, 1996, p. 5). The last
two categories, estimated to be 25 percent of the total Palestinian
refugee population, neither receive any assistance from UNRWA, nor
any kind of legal protection from the UNHCR (Jaeger, 1988).
National Protection and Palestinian Refugees in
Lebanon
Evidence shows that the Palestinian refugees, regardless of whether
they have been granted citizenship or whether they have been denied
national protection, have all suffered the consequences of the lack
of international protection. This is true of the refugees living in
Lebanon who have not been given any legal status, or of those who
have been forced to adopt Jordanian citizenship. Even those
refugees who have not received material assistance from UNRWA have
not been given access to any sort of legal protection. It is,
therefore, imperative that Palestinian refugees be granted
international protection until a solution to their problem is
reached.
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