BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee

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Survey of Palestinian Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (2006-2007)
Palestinian property in western Jerusalem. © Gerhard Bulfer/BADIL.
of refugees’ absolute right of
return to their place of origin
(including their homes) is central
to the implementation of durable
solutions. According to UNHCR
Executive Conclusion No. 40,
for example, “the basic rights of
persons to return voluntarily to
the country of origin is reaffirmed
and it is urged that international
co-operation be aimed at achieving
this solution and should be further
developed.” 37
General Assembly Resolution
194(III) affirms the right of all
persons displaced in 1948 to return
to their homes of origin. Paragraph
11(a) states: “refugees wishing to
return to their homes […] should
be permitted to do so.” The UN
Mediator in Palestine, whose
recommendations formed the basis
of Resolution 194(III), explicitly
noted that the right of return
should be affirmed (rather than
recognized) by the United Nations.
Correspondence and reports of the
UN Mediator repeatedly affirm
the right of Palestinian refugees to
return to their homes as a remedy
to the arbitrary character of their
displacement.
By 1948, the right of refugees and displaced persons to return to their places of origin had already assumed
customary status in international law. 38 According to the American Representative to the UN in 1948,
Resolution 194(III), paragraph 11, “endorsed a generally recognized principle and provided a means for
implementing that principle.” 39
The resolution also affirmed the right of refugees to return to their homes of origin, clearly indicating the
return of each refugee to “his[her] house or lodging and not to his [her] homeland.” 40 The Assembly rejected
two separate amendments that referred in more general terms to the return of refugees to “the areas from
which they have come.” 41
The United Nations has reaffirmed the right of Palestinian refugees and IDPs to return to their homes in
numerous Security Council and General Assembly resolutions. These include UN Security Council Resolutions
93 (18 May 1951) and 237 (14 June 1967), as well as UN General Assembly Resolutions 194 (11 December
1948), 3236 (22 November 1974) and 2252 (4 July 1967).