BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee

128
Survey of Palestinian Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (2006-2007)
Jordan during and after the 1967 war, and who do not have Jordanian citizenship, usually hold expired Egyptianissued
travel documents. They require a return visa to re-enter Jordan 119
Palestinian refugees in Syria are issued identity cards and six-year travel documents similar to Syrian passports. All
persons, including citizens and Palestinian refugees, are required to obtain special permission to travel abroad.
Prior to the US-led invasion and occupation, refugees in Iraq were eligible for a five-year travel document. 120
However, Iraqi travel documents for Palestinians are no longer recognized by most states. Palestinians may leave
Iraq but are often denied entry to neighbouring countries.
Most refugees in Lebanon receive an identification card and a special travel document, which varies depending on
their status (i.e., registered refugees, non-registered refugees and non-ID refugees). Refugees who are registered
with both UNRWA and the Department of Political Affairs and Refugees (DPAR) of the government of Lebanon
hold permanent residency cards and travel documents valid for five years. Refugees not registered with UNRWA,
but registered with DPAR, are issued the same residency card, but a different travel document (Laissez Passer). This
is valid for one year and renewable three times. Refugees not registered with either UNRWA or the DPAR are not
entitled to residency and travel documents. The right to residency and travel of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon
is subject to arbitrary change, depending on the political context. For instance, when Libya expelled Palestinian
refugees from its territory in 1995, the Lebanese government passed a decree preventing the 15,000 Libya-based
Palestinian refugees with Lebanese residence, along with other Palestinians with Lebanese documents, from returning
to Lebanon without a special re-entry visa. As a result, thousands of Palestinian refugees were stranded in
airports and at borders. This decision was revoked in January 1999. 121
Egypt issues five categories of travel documents for Palestinians, depending on the time of their arrival in the country:
(1) those who arrived prior to 1948; (2) those who arrived in 1948; (3) those who arrived in 1956; (4) those who
arrived after 1956 and prior to 1967; (5) those who arrived after June 1967. Palestinians must renew their visas every
six months to three years, depending on their category. Egyptian travel documents specify that the holder cannot
return to Egypt without valid reasons. Palestinians who leave Egypt will be able to re-enter if they return within six
months, or hold a one-year visa for work or education abroad. During the 1991 Gulf War, a number of Palestinians
expelled from Kuwait, and who held expired Egyptian travel documents, were denied re-entry to Egypt.
Palestinian refugees: living outside the camps, Amman, Jordan. © UNRWA Archives.
d. The right to work
Implementation of the Casablanca
Protocol with respect to the right to
employment on par with host state
nationals is subject to numerous
restrictions. Most Palestinian refugees
in Syria, Jordan and (until recently)
Iraq have the right to employment
on par with host state nationals,
although they may experience informal
discrimination. 122 A smaller number of
unregistered refugees, including those
who subsequently entered Syria from
other Arab states, and refugees from
the occupied Gaza Strip who entered
Jordan during or immediately after the
1967 war, do not have full access to
employment. 123