The Legal Exclusion of Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon

Janine Nassar

RESEARCH QUESTION INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION GAP

Why has the Lebanese government Palestinian refugees occupy a unique not improved the legal rights and status internationally protections of Palestinian refugees v since their entry into the country in Are the only refugee group that falls under the auspices of UNRWA 1948? vAre not protected by the 1951 Refugee Convention Palestinian refugees in Lebanon are Figure 1. Cartoon depicting a man being vUNRWA’s chronic financial crisis Figure 2. Photo of the Shatila Refugee Camp, unique: crushed by the word “displaced” published in affects vulnerable Palestinians who taken by Mohammed Asad, 2012 v Three-generations worth reside in Tele Liban rely entirely on its services refugee camps v Lack legal status and social, political, CONCLUSIONS and economic rights FROM SYMPATHY TO SCAPEGOATS DOMESTIC LAW & HUMAN RIGHTS v Their plight is neglected due to the v What was once the Palestinian influx of Syrian refugees cause evolved into the PRE-CIVIL WAR ERA Domestic mistreatment is a Palestinian problem vGovernment & citizens welcomed byproduct of the international LITERATURE REVIEW refugees protection gap v Solutions include increasing vAffluent Palestinians were naturalized donor funding for UNRWA Daniel Meier & Nur Masalha and contributed socially, economically v Palestinians are barred from buying and alleviating restrictions on vThe state weaponizes tawteen & culturally or transferring property, working in employment opportunities (naturalization) to maintain vThe 1969 Cairo Agreement legitimized 36 professions, and accessing any v International pressure should anti-integration policies the presence of Palestinian armed government services available to be placed on Lebanon to ratify vHuman rights are framed as a militias citizens the Refugee Convention and pathway to naturalization vPalestinian militias received full v UNRWA is the sole provider for its Protocol governmental support Simon Haddad & Waleed Serhan services, including education and health care vThe presence of predominantly POST-CIVIL WAR ERA > v All 12 official refugee camps suffer v Post-war era marked the start of Sunni Muslim Palestinian from severe poverty, overcrowding & refugees threatens the fragile increasing restrictions Bibliography deficient infrastructure Figure 1. Abou Jaoude , Elias, and Joey Ayoub. “Refugees in Lebanon Are Still Being v Post-war rhetoric downplayed the Scapegoated in the Media and in Academia · Global Voices.” Global Voices, December demographic balance of a state v Children are commonly exploited for 14, 2017. https://globalvoices.org/2017/12/14/refugees-in-lebanon-are-still-being- founded upon sectarian power- negligence of the state and blamed scapegoated-in-the-media-and-in-academia/. cheap labor Figure 2. Webster, Nick. “Special Report: Mental Health in Focus as Beirut's Refugee sharing the Palestinians for their Camp Workers Feel the Strain.” The National. The National, August 12, 2019. https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/special-report-mental-health-in-focus-as- involvement beirut-s-refugee-camp-workers-feel-the-strain-1.897378.