Unwelcome Guests: Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon

Overview

Before the 1982 Israeli invasion, Lebanon was the center of the Palestinian national movement. Today, however, the country’s Palestinian refugee community is considered among the most marginalized in the Palestinian Diaspora. Last month, the Lebanese parliament addressed the issue of the refugees’ rights but the draft bill was referred back to committee. In response, several prominent Lebanese politicians, including Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, warned about the implications of denying Palestinian refugees their human rights, and the Palestinian community and their Lebanese allies held large demonstrations across the country on June 27. Al-Shabaka policy advisor Dalal Yassine examines the legal status of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and argues that the country’s institutional racism not only deprives Palestinian refugees of their human rights but also serves to undermine the right of return. She also discusses “The Right to Work” campaign and contends that it is an example of coordination between Palestinian and Lebanese civil society organizations that solidarity groups in the Palestinian Diaspora should emulate in order to overcome Lebanese political intransigence.

Lebanese-Palestinian Relations

The creation of the Palestinian refugee population was a direct consequence of the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. From 1947-1950, in what Palestinians call the Nakba, or the catastrophe, Zionist militias (and later the Israeli army) expelled or instigated the flight of over 750,000 Palestinians from their homes. Roughly 100,000 Palestinian refugees sought shelter in Lebanon as a result of the Nakba and their presence was deemed a threat to the country’s tenuous sectarian political system.1 Over 60 years later, the government of Lebanon still does not provide publicly available statistics for Palestinian refugees in the country. In its January 2010 statistics report, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) stated that there were currently 425,640 Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon. Of these, 53% reside in 12 official refugee camps, while the remainder lives in Lebanese cities and villages as well as in unofficial refugee camps or “Palestinian gatherings.”2 However, UNRWA’s statistics are incomplete as they do not include unregistered Palestinian refugees who came to Lebanon between 1952 and 1956 or those who entered the country after 1970 and are considered “undocumented” Palestinians.3

Lebanese-Palestinian relations have fluctuated over the years. Lebanon’s early embrace of the refugees was quickly overshadowed by security concerns: The camps were viewed as security zones that could explode at any moment. The Deuxieme Bureau (military intelligence) and Lebanese police established a presence within the camps to control the refugees and monitor political activities. In 1959, the Ministry of the Interior established a Directorate to administer Palestinian refugee affairs and coordinate with UNRWA on the provision of aid and assistance to Palestinian refugees, issuing travel documents, and facilitating requests to reunite divided families.4 In reality, the Directorate’s goal was to ensure the public interest of the Lebanese state, in particular to oversee the services that required the payment of fees which benefited the Lebanese government.5 Within the refugee camps, the Directorate’s role was related to political and security issues, while the needs and requirements of the Palestinian refugees, whether economic, social, cultural or political, were neglected.

The situation changed with the rise of the Palestinian resistance movement in the 1960s and the conclusion of the 1969 Cairo Agreement between the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and Lebanon, which regulated the Palestinian civil and military presence in the country. After the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the PLO withdrew from most of the country and its office was closed. Lebanon unilaterally nullified the Cairo Agreement in 1987 but did not identify any other framework to regulate relations between the two sides. As a result, a series of policies, laws and practices isolated and marginalized Palestinian refugees.

In 2005, Lebanon sought to improve relations with Palestinians within its borders and transcend past differences. The Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee (LPDC) was formed with a mandate to address matters related to the social and economic well-being and security of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and to formalize relations between Lebanon and Palestine.6 This included establishing official diplomatic relations with the Palestinian Authority (PA) and reopening the PLO office on May 15, 2006, as well as initiating dialogue with the different Palestinian political factions.

However, the LPDC did not realize its other basic goal, namely addressing the humanitarian situation of the Palestinian refugees. As an excuse, the LPDC often cited the lack of a single Palestinian representative authority to dialogue with regarding the humanitarian issues. Yet despite their internal political differences, Palestinian factions agree that the humanitarian situation of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon must be improved.7 Thus, while the LPDC succeeded in rebuilding ties between Lebanese and Palestinian officials, relations between the two communities inside Lebanon are still marked by a lack of trust.