HUMAN RIGHTS ANNUAL REPORT 2004
Written evidence submitted by Mr Joe Bord
and Professor Hilary Rose Phd, FilDhc
As concerned academics disturbed by the conditions
endured by Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, we call on the committee
to investigate further the repression of rights in this neglected
field of the Middle East conflict. In November 1999 there were
373,440 refugees in Lebanon registered with the United Nations
Relief and Works administration (UNRWA)[2]
Palestinians have been resident as refugees in Lebanon since the
forced migration from mandatory Palestine in 1948, and consequently
at least three fifths have been born in the country of refuge[3]
This long-standing refugee population suffers
a double exclusion from legal protection. On the one hand, the
international community has largely failed in their protection.
UNWRA, the specialised UN agency for the Palestinian refugees,
encounters growing difficulties in providing for the basic needs
of the population. And, both the 1951 Convention relating to the
Status of Refugees and the Statute of the UN High Commission for
Refugees excluded Palestinian refugees from their remit. On the
other hand, Lebanese law has justified denial of access to the
labour market (including a blacklist of some seventy professions),
of ownership and inheritance of real estate, and of social services
on the grounds of Palestinian statelessness[4]
The result in rates of poverty and deprivation is depressingly
clear. The resources at the disposal of UNRWA are inadequate to
the task of providing health, educational and other public services,
for which the Lebanese state takes no responsibility.
Meanwhile, the condition of the 44% of Palestinians
who live outside the twelve official UNWRA camps is often even
more marginal.
On 13 October 2004, the Palestinian Authority
(PA) Minister of Labour Ghassan Khatib condemned the predicament
of the Lebanese Palestinian refugees: "Even in camps in Gaza
and Nablus in the Occupied Territories, the situation is better
than that of the camps in Lebanon." Mr Khatib called on the
Lebanese President Emile Lahoud to assist the easing of basic
conditions of life and work[5]
The minister also made the point that the refusal of Israel to
negotiate the right of return for the refugees was the main reason
that the Camp David talks (2000) had failed.
The intractability of this issue cannot be an
excuse for the deprivation of basic rights. As Amnesty International
has argued, discrimination against the Palestinians violates the
obligations of the Lebanese government under the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the International
Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the
Convention on the Rights of the Child[6]
In October 2003 the then Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri
noted that the ban on Palestinians owning property was "unjust"[7]
There is gross disproportion between the legitimate concern of
the Lebanese government not to disturb the sectarian balance of
the country and the legal restrictions on Palestinian refugees.
As is recognised by the PA, allowing Palestinians a degree of
dignity and opportunity in exile need not prejudice their wider
political negotiating position.
It is plainly in the interest of the United
Kingdom to assist the social and economic development of the Palestinian
people, and the achievement of as many rights as possible under
the eventual auspices of a peace settlement. It is also in our
interest to aid the long-term recovery of Lebanon. The committee
should investigate, in this or future sessions, the effectiveness
of the government in providing international assistance and encouraging
a change of Lebanese policy.
Mr Joe Bord
Research Fellow
Trinity College
Cambridge
and
Professor Hilary Rose, Phd, FilDhc Upsaala
Visiting Research Professor of Sociology
City University, London
13 February 2005
2 2 Wadie Said, "The Status of Palestinian Refugees
in Lebanon"', Palestine Center, Information Brief No
33, 24 May 2000. See: http://www.palestinecenter.org/cpap/pubs/20000524ib.html Back
3
Ole Fr Ugland (ed), "Difficult Past, Uncertain Future: Living
Conditions Among Palestinian Refugees in Camps and Gatherings
in Lebanon", Fafo report-409 (2003), pp 49-50. Back
4
"Refugees feature: Palestinian refugees-a legacy of shame",
Amnesty International, 3 March 2004.
See: http://news.amnesty.org/index/ENGMDE183032004 Back
5
Nayla Assaf, "Living conditions for Palestinian refugees
in Lebanon `worse than Occupied Territories'", Daily Star,
Beirut, 14 October 2004. See:
http://dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition-id=10&categ-id=16&article-id=9256 Back
6
Amnesty International, "Palestinian refugees-a legacy of
shame". Back
7
ibid.
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