BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee

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Survey of Palestinian Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (2006-2007)
The Status of Palestinian Refugees under the Stateless Conventions
A person who is not considered a national by any state is called a stateless person. Stateless persons who are refugees are
covered by the 1951 Refugee Convention. For stateless persons who are excluded from the protection offered by the 1951 Refugee
Convention, the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of
Statelessness provide an additional regime of protection under international law. The Conventions, have limited reach, however,
as few states have ratified them.
The majority of Palestinians worldwide are both refugees and stateless persons. Palestinian citizenship terminated with the British
mandate and with the proclamation of the state of Israel on 15 May 1948. Israel’s 1952 Citizenship Law repealed the Palestine
Citizenship Orders (1925–42) retroactively from the day of the establishment of the state of Israel. Israel’s 1952 Citizenship Law
effectively denied Israeli citizenship to the majority of 1948 Palestinian refugees – i.e., they were denationalized. While a significant
number of states have recognized “Palestine” as an independent state, following the declaration of independence by the Palestine
Liberation Organization (PLO) on 15 November 1988, today, no area of historic Palestine meets the international legal criteria of
statehood: a permanent population, a defined territory, government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other states.
The 1954 Convention provides stateless persons with similar benefits to those that the 1951 Refugee Convention provides to
refugees. The 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness was drafted to reduce as much as possible or eliminate the
phenomenon of statelessness. According to Article 1, a contracting state must grant its nationality to a person born in its territory
who would otherwise be stateless at birth, by operation of law, or upon application. It also prohibits, with a number of exceptions,
depriving someone of their nationality and categorically prohibits denial of nationality on grounds of race, religion or political
opinion.
As in the case of the 1951 Refugee Convention, the 1954 Stateless Convention does not apply to “persons who are at present
receiving from organs or agencies of the United Nations other than the UNHCR, protection or assistance so long as they are receiving
such protection or assistance” (Article 1). Most Arab states in which the majority of refugees are residing are not signatories to the
1954 Stateless Convention. Interpretation of the status of Palestinians as stateless persons varies among and even within those
states which are signatories to one or both of the two statelessness Conventions.
Like other asylum-seekers, Palestinians who receive a final negative decision in their asylum application, and are not
granted a complementary form of protection, are requested to leave the host country. As stateless persons, however,
they often have nowhere to go because no state will allow them to (re-)enter their territory. They are therefore at grave
risk of being trapped in a state of legal limbo.
In many countries, including Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden and the UK, rejected asylumseekers
who cannot be returned or removed are allowed to stay in the host country, but without legal status. In some
countries, such as Denmark and the Netherlands, rejected asylum-seekers who cannot be returned may receive some
legal status, at least after a period of time, and often in the framework of complementary forms of protection.
b. The right not to be expelled (non-refoulement) and arbitrarily detained
Rejected Palestinian asylum-seekers usually hold temporarily suspended deportation orders. In the UK, Palestinians
are treated as removable; if a negative asylum decision is issued, they will be removed as and when conditions permit.
In Australia, Spain, Sweden and the US, rejected asylum-seekers may be kept in detention until deportation to the
country of former habitual residence can be enforced. While in Spain, such detention may never exceed 40 days; in
Australia and the US, persons, including children, may be held in custody indefinitely.
Turkey, which has ratified the 1951 Convention but not the 1967 Protocol extending its application to non-European
refugees, does not recognize the refugee status of non-European refugees, including Palestinian refugees. Palestinian
refugees are thus unable to acquire legal status and residency rights. If found in Turkey, they are detained. If they
cannot be deported, they are released with a document (“Article 23 Document”) valid for a period of two to three
months that indicates that they must leave the territory after this period. This document does not guarantee any basic