Palestinian Refugees in Exile: Fathia El Sakka
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Palestinian Refugees in Exile: A Case Study of Palestinian Refugees in Ein El Hilweh Camp, Lebanon Fathia El Sakka International Migration and Ethnic Relations Bachelor Thesis 15 credits Spring 2019: IM245L Supervisor: Sayaka Osanami Törngren Word Count: 11051 Fathia El Sakka IMER-Bachelor Thesis Spring 2019: IM245L Abstract The aim of the study is to examine the current Palestinian refugees’ situation in the biggest refugee camp in Lebanon. The research questions of this thesis are: How are Palestinians integrating into Lebanese society? What are the experiences of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon? How do Palestinian refugees identify themselves? Through the interviewees’ perceptions of their situations, this study provides their viewpoints regarding the position of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. This thesis utilises qualitative interviews to collect data and analyse the interviews of five participants who are third- and fourth-generation Palestinian refugees. The Palestinian refugees’ situation is studied by applying the theories of social integration, structural discrimination, and social identity. Through the analysis of the five interviews, it was revealed that three main factors dominate the Palestinian refugees’ situation in Lebanon: their integration and how difficult it might be to integrate, their experiences that are presented by the restrictions Palestinian refugees face, and their identity, how they identify themselves. Keywords: PRL, Lebanon, integration, discrimination, identity. 2 Fathia El Sakka IMER-Bachelor Thesis Spring 2019: IM245L Table of Contents Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... 2 1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 4 1.1 Aims and Research Questions....................................................................................................... 5 1.2 Thesis Outline ............................................................................................................................... 5 2. Background ........................................................................................................................... 6 3. Literature Review ................................................................................................................ 9 4. Theoretical Framework ..................................................................................................... 12 4.1 Social Integration ........................................................................................................................ 12 4.2 Structural Discrimination ............................................................................................................ 13 4.3 Social Identity ............................................................................................................................. 14 4.4 Summary of Theoretical Framework .......................................................................................... 15 5. Method ................................................................................................................................ 16 5.1 Data Collection ........................................................................................................................... 16 5.2 The Interviewees ......................................................................................................................... 18 5.3 Ethical Considerations ................................................................................................................ 19 5.4 Self-reflection ............................................................................................................................. 19 5.5 Reliability and Validity ............................................................................................................... 20 6. Results ................................................................................................................................. 21 6.1 Theme 1: Integration ................................................................................................................... 21 6.2 Theme 2: The Experiences of Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon ................................................ 24 6.3 Theme 3: The Identity of Palestinian Refugees .......................................................................... 29 7. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 32 References ............................................................................................................................... 34 Appendices .............................................................................................................................. 38 Appendix A ....................................................................................................................................... 38 Appendix B ....................................................................................................................................... 39 3 Fathia El Sakka IMER-Bachelor Thesis Spring 2019: IM245L 1. Introduction Last year, I visited Jordan. During my stay, I met and conversed with many Palestinian refugees, developing a desire to know about their situation. The more I read about Palestinian refugees in general and their situation in Jordan specifically, the more difficult I found it to suppress my interest pertaining to Palestinian refugees in Lebanon (PRLs). They were mentioned in every document and piece of literature I read. Therefore, I decided to examine PRLs in greater detail. In 1948, during the Nakba—also known as the Great Catastrophe, referring to the significant ethnic cleansing of Palestinians—Palestinians were forced to flee their homes, villages and cities and settle in neighbouring countries, such as Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. When they were forcibly moved, they were not sure how long it would be before they could return to Palestine, but they thought that they would return before they felt like they were living away from home. When the Palestinians became refugees, they did not know what it would cost them or what they would gain. This is the situation of all Palestinian refugees, but the experience of PRLs, especially those living in the camps, became a special case. The camps in Lebanon are well known as exhibiting the ‘worst living conditions’ (Ibrahim, 2008) compared with other Palestinian refugee camps regionally. For many years, it has been reported that Arab governments—especially the Lebanese government—mistreat Palestinian refugees (Fayad, 2018). The Palestinian refugees’ situation is of interest because they have been living with an unclear legal position in a foreign country for more than 70 years. It is especially significant that they live in a multi-sectarian country (in practice, there is a quota system in Lebanon attached to certain positions, connected to the multiple religious groups in Lebanon) where their rights are unclear. In this thesis, the following questions are asked: How does Lebanese society react to Palestinians? What is society’s role outside of the Lebanese government, institutions and politicians? Are Palestinian refugees living in limbo? Is it true that Palestinians live day by day? This thesis contributes to the field of IMER by investigating a subject that is not well researched. The focus is elucidating the Palestinian refugees’ thoughts concerning their situations and positions in Lebanon, especially in terms of Palestinian refugees who were born and continue to live in the camps. I have chosen to investigate two generations’ points of view in Ein-el Hilweh camp about their experiences because the only 4 Fathia El Sakka IMER-Bachelor Thesis Spring 2019: IM245L information I was able to discover concerning the camp and its situation involved the ceasefire and conflicts in the camp that began in August 2014 (Civil Society Knowledge Centre, 2017). 1.1 Aims and Research Questions This study investigates the situation of Palestinian refugees, a refugee group that has been in Lebanon for more than seven decades, at present. Qualitative data were gathered by conducting semi-structured interviews. Interviews were conducted with five Palestinian refugees who were born and currently lived in the biggest Palestinian camp in Lebanon, Ein El Hilweh. Ein El Hilweh camp was established in 1948 by the International Committee of the Red Cross near the city of Sidon for Palestinians who had been displaced from north Palestine (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East [UNRWA], n.d.). PRLs who reside in the camp mainly work in construction sites, as cleaners or in embroidery workshops throughout Lebanese society (UNRWA, n.d.). The thesis focusses on their experiences of being PRLs and living in the camp. The research questions of this study are as follows: • How are Palestinians integrated into Lebanese society?1 • What are the experiences of PRLs? • How do Palestinian refugees identify themselves? 1.2 Thesis Outline The thesis structure is as follows: The introductory chapter presents the problem, aims and research questions. Chapter 2 relates the background and briefly presents the history of PRLs, as well as the series of events that affected them. Chapter 3 examines the previous literature regarding Palestinian