Council of Europe Issues Recommendations on Palestinian Refugees
In June 2003 the Council of Europe (CoE), an intergovernmental body comprised of members of individual European parliaments, issued a number of recommendations concerning international protection and durable solutions for Palestinian refugees. The recommendations were issued in the aftermath of a hearing on the status of Palestinian refugees in Europe held earlier in the year in Budapest and a special report prepared by the Council's Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography (Doc. 9808, 15 May 2003) on the conditions in which the Palestinian refugees stay irrespective of the place.
International Protection
In the area of international protection the recommendations (Parliamentary Resolution 1338, 25 June 2003) contain a number of positive developments. The Council recognized that Palestinian refugees outside the region are at a clear disadvantage and must therefore be given a recognized legal status. Accordingly, the Assembly recommended that the Committee of Ministers calls on Council of Europe members states to review their policies in respect of Palestinian asylum seekers, with a view to effectively implementing United Nations High Commission for Refugees' (UNHCR) new guidelines published in 2002 on the applicability of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees with a view to recommending harmonization, Council of Europe member states' policies in this respect. (See al-Majdal, Issue 16-17, March 2003)
The Assembly also
recommended that the Committee of Ministers instruct the
appropriate committee to examine the issues relating to the legal
status of Palestinian refugees in Council of Europe member states,
and come up with concrete initiatives to ensure that all
Palestinian persons displaced from their homes or origin are
provided with an appropriate legal status; call upon member states
to ensure that where Palestinian refugees are legally recognized,
they should be entitled to all benefits of socio-economic rights,
including family reunion, normally accorded to recognized refugees
in these member states; initiate the organization of an
international conference devoted entirely to the question of
Palestinian refugees; and recommend that member states include
information on Palestinian origin in statistics concerning asylum
seekers and refugees.
he recommendations are
consistent with recommendations submitted by BADIL to the Committee
at its hearings earlier in the year in Budapest. (See
al-Majdal, Issue 16-17, March 2003)
Durable Solutions
At the same time,
however, the Committee recommendations on durable solutions for
Palestinian refugees remain largely unchanged from earlier
recommendations issued in 1998 (Parliamentary Resolution 1156).
This resolution called for a solution to the Palestinian refugee
issue largely through resettlement and the creation of a Palestine
Refugee and Displaced Persons Final Status Fund. Resolution 1338
(2003) essentially repeats this framework.
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Update on
Bedouin in the Naqab
- On the 1 July 2003, the
Israeli National Unit of Building Observation delivered 150 warning
notices to the homes of Bedouin citizens stating that the citizens
are living in illegal buildings built on land owned by the state.
The notices will affect at least 1,500 people, who are living in
the unrecognised villages of al-Dahiya, al-Misaadiya, and ‘Ateir.
Both al-Dahiya and al-Misaadiya are villages that have existed
since before the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, but which
the state does not recgonise. ‘Ateir is a village created by the
state in 1956 when its inhabitants were internally transferred from
their original land west of Rahat. This is the first time that the
state has accused its citizens in the Negev of living on land that
does not belong to them. Usually, the accusation has been of
unlicensed building.
- On 15 July 2003 Israeli
police, the Green Patrol and Border Police, accompanied by the
National Unit of Building Observation demolished shops and houses
in the villages of al-Sa'dia (3 homes), al-Bohara (2 shops), and
al-Za'rora (attempted demolition of a shop). The latter was
unsuccessful as the owner of the shop had a court
order.
- On the 11 August 2003
Israeli authorities demolished 10 homes in the unrecognized
villages of Wadi Ggwain, Sa'wa and Qatamat. Qatamat was announced
on May 2000 a military fairing zone.
Ongoing attacks on the
indigenous Bedouin of the Naqab are part of a larger Israeli plan
crafted by Ariel Sharon to remove the remaining Bedouin living in
unrecognized villages and extinguish all Bedouin land
claims.
For more information see
the website of the Regional Council for the Palestinian Bedouin of
the Unrecognized Villages: http://www.arabhra.org/rcuv/index.htm
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The Council notes that "Although
the establishment of a viable Palestinian state would largely
contribute to the durable solution of the question of refugees, the
situation of the latter, being both a political and a humanitarian
problem, should not be delayed until the political settlement of
the Middle East conflict." "The Assembly recognizes that there is a
new reality in the Middle East since the Arab-Israeli war of 1948
which created the refugee problems. It calls on all parties
involved in these problems to negotiate and achieve a just
settlement based on UN Security Council Resolution 242
(1967)."
Unlike the 1998 resolution and the
May 2003 report, however, Resolution 1338 drops all reference to UN
General Assembly Resolution 194, the preeminent resolution
concerning durable solutions for the majority of Palestinian
refugees. According to the May 2003 report, "The Assembly
recognizes the validity of United Nations General Assembly
Resolution 194 (1948) referring to the right of refugees to return
or to get compensation. However, 50 years after its adoption and in
view of the historical and political developments in the region, it
should be implemented with all necessary flexibility."
This framework is inconsistent
international law concerning durable solutions for refugees,
relevant resolutions to the Palestinian case, and policy and
practice of the CoE in other refugee cases, including, in
particular, the case of refugees from the former Yugoslavia. Oddly,
while the CoE recognizes the importance of international law
concerning international protection of Palestinian refugees, it
fails to do so concerning durable solutions, opting for a purely
political approach without regard for the rights of the
refugees.
The resolution also calls upon
member states to contribute to the international debate on durable
solutions offered to the Palestinian refugees, and encourage as
well as commission political and academic research and studies
concerning refugee problems and compensations. In a more positive
vein, Resolution 1338 affirms that UNRWA services must be fully
maintained until a permanent solution is found. It also calls upon
the international community to step up its voluntary financial
contribution to the budget of UNRWA with a view to at least
allowing it to reflect the natural growth of the Palestinian
refugee population being assisted.
| Attacks on
Camps
Attacks on refugee camps and
refugee-populated areas violate international humanitarian, human
rights, and refugee law. In order to continue to bring attention to
the ongoing Israeli attacks on Palestinian refugee camps in the
1967 occupied territories and the urgent need for international
protection, BADIL has prepared a short summary of attacks on
refugee camps. The table covers the period 1 July – 30 September
2003. The information is based on reported cases.
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Date
|
Place
|
Description
|
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7 July
|
Rafah RC (Block J)
|
Houses leveled, 1
injured
|
|
10 July
|
Rafah RC (Block J)
|
House destroyed, 1
injured
|
|
16 July
|
Khan Younis RC
|
Military fires on homes, 1
injured
|
|
29 July
|
Rafah RC (Block J)
|
Military fires on
children
|
|
2 August
|
Khan Younis RC
|
Military fires on
homes
|
|
4 August
|
Balata RC
|
Military fires on homes, 1
injured
|
|
4 August
|
Rafah RC (Block J)
|
Military firse on
homes
|
|
8 August
|
Askar RC
|
4 killed, apartment building destroyed, 6
injured
|
|
10 August
|
Khan Younis RC
|
Military firse on
homes
|
|
14 August
|
Rafah RC (Block L)
|
Home demolished
|
|
14 August
|
Jenin RC
|
Home damaged
|
|
15 August
|
Khan Younis RC
|
Military fires on home, home damaged, 1 child
injured
|
|
18 August
|
Al-Fawar RC
|
1 injured
|
|
20 August
|
Tulkarem RC
|
5 wounded, 1 child
killed
|
|
21 August
|
Khan Younis RC
|
Military fires on homes, 1
injured
|
|
21 August
|
Jenin RC
|
|
|
22 August
|
Khan Younis RC
|
Military fires on
homes
|
|
23 August
|
Khan Younis RC
|
Military fires on homes, 1
injured
|
|
24 August
|
Khan Younis RC
|
Military fires on
homes
|
|
25 August
|
Khan Younis RC
|
Military fires on homes, 1 child
injured
|
|
26 August
|
Khan Younis RC
|
Military firse on
homes
|
|
28 August
|
Jenin RC
|
Military fires on homes, 2 children
injured
|
|
29 August
|
Jenin RC
|
Military fires on
homes
|
|
30 August
|
Balata RC
|
Military fires on children, 5
injured
|
|
31 August
|
Balata RC
|
Military firse on home, 2 children
injured
|
|
6 September
|
Khan Younis RC
|
Military fires on
homes
|
|
6 September
|
Rafah RC (Block O)
|
Military fires on homes, 1 child
injured
|
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7 September
|
Rafah RC
|
Home damaged
|
|
7 September
|
Khan Younis RC (Block
H)
|
9 homes damaged, 8 injured, including 1
child
|
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8 September
|
Tulkarem RC
|
Military fires on homes, 1
injured
|
|
10 September
|
Al-Brazil, Rafah RC
|
2 injured
|
|
10 September
|
Rafah RC
|
3 injured
|
|
10 September
|
Balata RC
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2 killed, 2 injured
|
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10 September
|
Khan Younis RC
|
Military fires on homes, 1
injured
|
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11 September
|
Rafah RC (Block L)
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16 homes demolished
|
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11 September
|
Khan Younis RC
|
1 injured
|
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14 September
|
Rafah RC (Block J)
|
8 homes partially
demolished
|
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15 September
|
Rafah RC (Block K)
|
13 homes destroyed and
damaged
|
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16 September
|
Khan Younis RC
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