BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee

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Survey of Palestinian Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (2006-2007)
provide relief to Palestinian refugees alongside other UN mechanisms (i.e., UNCCP) that were mandated to
address larger political issues. UNRWA considers that a comprehensive solution to the refugee question lies
with the parties to the conflict and other political actors. 185 UNRWA cannot provide comprehensive physical
or legal protection, or participate in the search for durable solutions, including repatriation of Palestinian
refugees.
UNRWA’s protection activities are thus constrained to limited short- and medium-term activities. UNRWA
activities aim to contribute to the human development of refugees in its areas of operation (Gaza Strip, West
Bank, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria) by providing essential services until a just settlement to the refugee issue
is implemented in accordance with UN resolutions, in particular General Assembly Resolution 194. 186
UNRWA nevertheless provides limited protection through general assistance programmes guaranteeing the
basic needs of 1948 Palestinian refugees through education and health programmes. Such provision of services
guarantees basic economic, social and cultural rights, particularly in emergency humanitarian crises, and
may also be considered a form of protection – i.e., “relief protection”. To this end, UNRWA defines itself as
“an advocate [that] seeks to safeguard the rights of Palestine refugees and acts as a witness and a protecting
presence in areas of humanitarian crises and conflict.” 187 Occasionally, UNRWA also provides limited protection
through monitoring, reporting, and a limited degree of intervention.
UNRWA also registers Palestinian refugees in need of humanitarian assistance and provides them with identity
cards. Based on UNRWA’s working definition, registered refugees are called “Palestine refugees.” 188 Today, there
are about 6 million 1948 Palestinian refugees, of which 4,375,000 million are registered with UNRWA. 189
UNRWA registration is administrative, and does not aim to register all those displaced in 1948, but only
those in need of assistance. There is no systematic registration of Palestinian refugees; statistics are available
only for 1948 Palestinian refugees registered with UNRWA. 190 Despite the partiality of UNRWA’s database,
it is the only reliable and updated source of information on the number of 1948 Palestinian refugees available
at present. It has come to represent the quantifiable proof that Palestinian refugees still exist.
Although UNRWA does not have a mandate to pursue durable solutions, from its inception until the end of
the 1950s, international powers had hoped that UNRWA work and regional economic development projects,
as envisaged by the Economic Survey Mission (ESM), would encourage refugees to integrate (i.e., resettle) in
Arab host countries. 191 But due to strained financial resources and strong opposition to resettlement from Arab
states and refugees, 192 UNRWA soon redirected expenditures towards relief rather than resettlement plans. 193
In 1959, the UN Secretary-General reached the conclusion that “no reintegration [i.e., resettlement] would
be satisfactory, or even possible, were it to be brought about by forcing people into new positions against their
will.” 194 Hence, although it was hoped that UNRWA work would contribute to resettlement programmes
based on the recommendations of the Mission, it soon shifted its activities towards the provision of health
care, education, relief and social services.
The 1967 occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip brought about a new reality. In 1967, then
Commissioner-General of UNRWA, Lawrence Michelmore, approached the UN Under-Secretary-General
seeking international protection for refugees in the occupied Palestinian territory. The initiative failed to
attract sufficient support at the United Nations, based on the Under-Secretary’s view that Israel would oppose
a protection initiative.
UNRWA’s protection role was nevertheless subsequently expanded as a result of the massacre in the refugee
camps of Sabra and Shatila in 1982. General Assembly Resolution 37/120(J), entitled “Protection of Palestine
Refugees”, stipulated that UNRWA, in consultation with the Secretary-General, should “undertake effective
measures to guarantee the safety and security and the legal and human rights of the Palestinian refugees in