Refugee Protection
Palestinian Refugees, the al-Aqsa
Intifada and International Protection
Since the beginning of the popular Palestinian uprising in late September 2000 numerous local and international human rights organizations, as well as ad hoc committees/ commissions, have investigated and reported on Israel's violations of human rights law and humanitarian law in the occupied Palestinian territories. While refugees are included within the framework of human rights and humanitarian law applicable to all Palestinians in the occupied territories, an additional body of law - i.e., refugee law - is applicable to Palestinian refugees who comprise over 50 percent of the total Palestinian population in the occupied territories.
International protection covers a variety of tasks beginning with the early stages of exodus/displacement through to durable solutions (i.e., the voluntary return of refugees) and reintegration of refugees in their places of origin. An important aspect of protection is monitoring and documentation of the situation of refugees and, when necessary, intervention with state parties to ensure respect for refugees' rights.
(UNCCP), is accompanied by the absence of comprehensive documentation on the impact of the intifada on Palestinian refugees. While UNRWA, which provides assistance for most refugees in the occupied territories, continues to collect and document Israeli violations of the rights of Palestinian refugees, the Agency does not have the mandate or resources to provide comprehensive protection - particularly in relation to physical safety and durable solutions. The lack of comprehensive, standardized data on the impact of the intifada on refugees makes it extremely difficult to develop an accurate assessment of protection needs.
In order to illustrate the impact of the lack of international protection for Palestinian refugees, BADIL began a small project in late 2000 to gather data on the specific impact of the al-Aqsa intifada on refugees in the occupied territories. Given limited resources and the various restrictions on freedom of movement which severely complicate data collection, the material compiled by BADIL only provides a sample. The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) has recently included refugees as a sub-group in its survey on the effects of the intifada; the survey results should shed more light on the impact and specific needs of the refugee community. The material gathered by BADIL was subsequently presented to the UN Commission of Inquiry. (See below for a summary of the UN report)
Israel's brutal use of force to repress the Palestinian uprising has resulted in grave human suffering and material damage in the 1967 occupied territories. Over 400 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since 29 September 2000. Some 13,000 have been injured many of who will suffer permanent disabilities. Several thousand structures, including homes and businesses, as well as agricultural property has been severely damaged or totally destroyed.
The The absence of international protection for Palestinian
refugees, due to the collapse of the UN Conciliation Commission for
PalestinePCBS reported that damage to residential and
non-residential structures between 29 September 2000 and 8 January
2001 amounted to some US $26 million. UNSCO, the Office of the UN
Special Coordinator for the Occupied Territories,
estimates that between 1 October 2000 - 31 January 2001,
Palestinian losses (excluding physical damage), including reduced
production and circulation of goods and services and reduced labor
income, total some US $1.15 billion.
While all Palestinians living in the occupied territories have been hit hard by Israel's aggressive military and economic policies, refugees are particularly vulnerable to the ongoing siege imposed on the Palestinian population. The consequences of displacement and the loss of homes and properties in 1948 remain highly visible in the refugee community today. Palestinian refugees, especially camp refugees, are a landless, economically marginalized population. Owning no means of subsistence, they are completely dependent upon income from employment and wage labor. Israel's closure of its labor market to Palestinians, as well as restrictions on movement within the occupied territories have an especially devastating impact on refugee families whose limited savings are rapidly consumed in times of unemployment.
According to UNSCO there were 72 days of border closures in the last quarter of 2000 raising lost working days to their highest level since 1997. Nearly 40 percent of the population in the occupied territories is currently unemployed. While no figures are available for the number of unemployed refugees one can assume that based on the high level of wage labor among refugees and traditionally lower levels of employment in refugee camps, unemployment among refugees, particularly camp refugees, is higher than average.
Both UNRWA and UNDP have supported emergency temporary job creation programs to relieve some of the burden createdby the rapid increase in unemployment among refugees. As of mid-January 2001, UNRWA, for example, had hired 124 additional temporary medical staff in Gaza under the Agency's Emergency Employment Creation Scheme, an additional 486 sanitation, packing and distribution laborers (to implement the Agency's food aid programme), 336 teachers, 44 social workers, 36 sanitation and supervisory staff, 36 clerks, 9 engineers, 5 technical assistants, 2 registration supervisors, as well as 14 guards. In the West Bank the Agency signed partnership agreements with Camp Committees to start up community works programs.
Reduced household expenditures due to unemployment and the depletion of savings further dampen economic activity and employment. Given the high rate of dependency - the average employed Palestinian supports him/herself plus 4 other people - a large number of persons are affected by the rise in unemployment. Approximately 1 million persons now live below the poverty line (US $2.1 in consumption per person per day). Due to this state of affairs, approximately 42.5% of the registered refugee population in the occupied territories is receiving assistance from UNRWA and for the first time since 1982 UNRWA is providing rations to the general refugee population in addition to special hardship cases.
Palestinian refugees who were previously using the services of other national or private providers are now seeking treatment at UNRWA health facilities. The situation for refugees is further exacerbated by the chronic deficit problem faced by UNRWA, which has already placed existing education, health and social welfare programs for refugees under considerable stress for much of the last decade. Due to their vicinity to Israeli military installations, settlements and by-pass roads, the refugee camps of 'Askar (Nablus), 'Aida and Beit Jibrin (Bethlehem), Aqbat Jaber (Jericho), Shati, Jabalya, Rafah and Khan Younis (Gaza), as well as Jalazon, Kalandia, and al-Arroub which remain in Area "C" of the West Bank (i.e., full Israeli control), refugees in these camps are exposed to even greater risk of physical injury and death.
Initial review of the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces between 29 September 2000 and 31 January 2001 suggests that a minimum of 50 percent are refugees. (See Table 1)
Refugee shelters as well as UNRWA installations, moreover, have become regular targets of Israeli military and settler attacks. Damages to family shelters caused by indiscriminate Israeli shelling can be extensive in the densely built-up refugee camps where shelters sharing common exterior walls and constructed from cinderblock with asbestos or zinc roofing are less resistant to military attacks.
Approximately 609,000 camp refugees in the West Bank and Gaza live on an area of around 20 sq. km, translating into a population density as high as 30,450 refugees per sq. km. Shock and anxiety attacks, especially among the children and elderly spread quickly among the crowded camp population. In the Bethlehem area and in the Gaza Strip, Israeli military attacks had cause over US $5 million in damage between 29 September and 31 December 2000. (See Table 2) The PCBS estimated that as of 8 January 2001 total damage to residential and non-residential structures in West Bank refugee camps totaled more than US $600,000.