Article74 Magazine
Appeal against the Expulsion of Palestinian Refugees from Germany to Lebanon Informationsprojekt Naher und Mittlerer Osten/Berlin Several thousand Palestinian, Lebanese and Kurdish refugees from Lebanon are currently threatened with expulsion or deportation from Germany. These people came to Germany years ago, to seek refuge from the civil war and postwar conditions in Lebanon. Most of them were Palestinians fleeing the sieges and attacks on their camps during the civil war. In Germany, they were refused political asylum. However, they were granted a lowest-level resident status, because the Lebanese authorities until recently refused to issue any travel documents enabling the refugees to return to Lebanon. The German government is currently in negotiating a re-admission agreement with the Lebanese government. German authorities submitted lists with about 10,000 names of refugees to the Lebanese General Security. Since December 1996, hundreds of Lebanese refugees have already been sent back to Lebanon. The authorities in Berlin, where nearly half of these refugees live, have sent letters to several Palestinian families informing them that their “provisional residency” is to be extended for the last time, because “a re-admission agreement with the Lebanese government will be signed at the end of June 1997.” Lebanon still suffers from the legacy of a 15-years civil war, as well as from the occupation and the warlike situation in the south of the country. The situation of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon is worsening rapidly, especially since the end of the civil war. They have been consistently denied social and civil rights. According to the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) the rate of unemployment is higher than 50%; approximately 60% of the Palestinians live below the poverty line. Palestinians are banned from as many as 71 professions, and they have no access to social insurance. The services of UNRWA and other international agencies have been reduced considerably in recent years. Refugee camps, which were destroyed during the civil war, were not rebuilt. The Lebanese government pursues an undeclared policy of migration pressure against the Palestinians. In 1995, after the expulsion of thousands of Palestinians from Libya, the Lebanese Minister for Tourism, Nicolas Fattoush, stated that Lebanon should not become a “dumping ground for human waste.” Today, Palestinian refugees are unwanted in Palestine/Israel (the latter refuses their return absolutely) as well as in most Arab countries. A growing number of Palestinian refugees are being denied entry and residence everywhere. To a certain extent, their situation resembles the desperate situation of stateless people in Europe between the World Wars. So far, their right to return - as enshrined in UN GA Resolution 194 (III) - has been denied. - We appeal to the Lebanese government not to allow itself to be utilized for such an inhumane practice, but instead to grant civil and social rights to the Palestinians in Lebanon; This appeal has been released on August 15, 1997 as a joint appeal of six German human rights organizations and refugee rights organizations. Please send your letter/appeal to: Minister of Foreign Affairs Minister of Interior Berlin State Minister of Interior Federal Parliament (Bundestag) Please send a copy of your letter to: |
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