BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee

106
Survey of Palestinian Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (2006-2007)
Preface
Protection
Refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) are entitled to protection. Protection includes recognition and safeguarding
of refugee and IDP rights, as well as the search for a durable solution. National authorities hold the primary
responsibility for protecting refugees and IDPs within their borders.
Durable solutions to refugee flows include voluntary repatriation, voluntary host country integration, and voluntary third
country resettlement. Of these three solutions, only repatriation (i.e., return) is recognized as a right under international
law. The key principle governing these solutions is that they involve voluntariness, i.e., choice by refugees. Refugees also
have a right to remedy, including housing and property restitution, as well as compensation for damages and losses.
The United Nations established a specific framework for durable solutions for all persons displaced in 1948. General
Assembly Resolution 194(III), 11 December 1948, affirmed that refugees, including those internally displaced within
Israel, had a right to return to their homes, repossess their property, and receive compensation for damages and losses. Those
who did not wish to exercise their right of return were entitled to resettlement assistance, restitution, and compensation.
In Resolution 237, 14 June 1967, the UN Security Council affirmed the right of Palestinian refugees displaced in 1967
to return. The UN has repeatedly affirmed the right of return for those Palestinians who find themselves in the position
of refugees due to expulsion, deportation, denial of residency rights, and so on.
International protection is required when states are unable or unwilling to protect refugees and internally displaced persons.
The rights and duties of refugees and the obligations of states are set forth in the 1951 Convention relating to the Status
of Refugees. The Convention includes special provisions governing the status of 1948 and 1967 Palestinian refugees. The
1965 Protocol on the Treatment of Palestinians delineates standards for the treatment of Palestinian refugees in the Arab
world. The 1998 Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement set out the rights of internally displaced persons. However,
the 1965 Protocol and the 1998 Guiding Principles do not have the legal status of a Convention.
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is the primary body mandated to provide international
protection for refugees worldwide. The United Nations established a separate organ, the UN Conciliation Commission
for Palestine (UNCCP), to provide protection, including the search for a durable solution, for all persons displaced in
Palestine during the 1948 War. This organ is no longer active, and the UN has not established a separate mechanism to
provide protection, including implementation of durable solutions.
A new mechanism, the Collaborative Response, has been developed by relevant UN agencies and international organizations
in order to provide assistance and protection to IDPs.
In many respects, Israel fails to protect Palestinian refugees and IDPs. National protection accorded to Palestinian refugees in Arab
host states varies, and interpretation of relevant instruments by signatory host states outside the Middle East is inconsistent.