Seeking justice: The role of international protection and reparations for Palestinian refugees (original) (raw)
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The Palestinian Refugees, International Law, and the Peace Process
Refuge: Canada's Journal on Refugees
The article reviews recent Israel-Palestinian negotiations on the issue of the Palestinian refugees. It examines legal aspects of the major issues that were involved in the negotiations including who was responsible for the plight of the refugees, the definition of who is a refugee, the existence of a right of return, and the question of restitution and compensation. The article reaches the conclusion that, in the context of the Arab-Israeli conflict, no legal “right of return” exists, implementation of such a right would be impracticable and UN General Assembly Resolution 194 does not impose such a right. The article shows, however, that despite deep differences on legal positions, the parties have endeavoured to draft language that will enable them to proceed with a practical solution.
2013
The last decade has witnessed growing interest in comprehensive plans of action (CPAs), transitional justice and durable solutions for refugees and displaced persons. This paper presents some initial thoughts on the nexus of CPAs, transitional justice and durable solutions for displaced Palestinians. The following discussion adopts a human rights-based approach premised on the view of refugees and displaced persons as rights-holders (e.g., rights of return, restitution and compensation) with states holding corresponding duties to "respect, protect and fulfill" the panoply of rights accorded to refugees and displaced persons under international law. A human rights-based approach also recognizes the concomitant rights of individuals and communities in a refugees/displaced persons' country of origin and in countries providing local integration and resettlement. This contrasts with prevailing efforts, as Rosemary Sayigh observes, to "dis/solve" the Palestinian refugee "problem" under which "[t]he 'New Middle East' must be tidied up; states, citizens and borders must correspond; and disruptive anomalies must be removed". (Sayigh 1998, 21) Emphasizing the interests of states, the corresponding balance of
REFUGEES’ ‘RIGHT OF RETURN’ TO THEIR HOMELAND, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO PALESTINIAN REFUGEES.
Master's Thesis , 2019
Refugees confront fear, distress, devastating despair, and sometimes misleading optimism because of their vulnerability. However, all refugees are entitled to return to the homelands from which they have fled because of persecution or fear of it. Conventions and provisions of international law stipulate repatriation and/or compensation as sustainable solutions for refugees. This paper introduces the definition of refugees and their Right of Return, and the reasons that prompted the creation of this legally binding, unconditional, and inalienable right and the rule of law in affirming it. The paper will provide a summary survey of how this right has been applied in practice. The second section of the paper considers the Right of Return as applied to refugees resulting from the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, which began more than seventy years ago. The current legal basis of the right of Palestinian refugees as ‘individuals’ to return to their homeland, has been affirmed in many United Nations Resolutions, whether issued by the General Assembly or by the Security Council. The Palestinian Right of Return has never ceased to exist, but this right has been neglected and denied by Israeli practices and policies, destroying the prospect of a viable peace in Palestine. For almost seventy-one years, it has proved impossible to offer a sustainable solution to the Palestinian refugee problem. The main obstacle has been the denial and refusal by the Israeli government of the obligations it has as a Member Stateof the UN, under many UN Resolutions, to facilitate and allow the Right of Return of Palestinian refugees to their homeland. Some of Israel’s laws have compromised the possibility of refugee return. These include the Israeli Law of Return and its Law of Nationality. Despite the UN Resolutions, the UN has been ineffective in defending Palestinian refugees’ rights. Palestinian refugees continue to suffer miserable circumstances despite successful UN interventions in other refugee situations. Notwithstanding this selective access to justice, Palestinian refugees have not abandoned their right to return, as illustrated recently by the Great March of Return at the armistice line between Israel and the Gaza Strip. The paper concludes with a consideration of the failure of international law to protect the inalienable right of Palestinian refugees more than seventy years after the beginning of the ethnic cleansing which led to the Palestinian refugee problem. Keywords: Palestine, Israel, Ethnic Cleansing, Refugees, Right of Return, United Nations.
The Status of Palestinian Refugees in International Law
International Migration Review, 1999
Chapter I INTRODUCTION 1. The story of Rula 2. Palestinian refugees and international law 3. Historical background 3.1 The origins of the conflict over Palestine 3.2 The exodus of refugees from Palestine 3.3 The Israeli decision not to allow the refugees to return 3.4 Subsequent displacements of Palestinians, including 1948-refugees 4. The number of Palestinian refugees and their geographical distribution 5. The United Nations and Palestinian refugees 5.1 United Nations Mediator for Palestine 5.2 United Nations Relief for Palestine Refugees (UNRPR) 24 5.3 United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine (UNCCP) 5.4 United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) 6. The 'Madrid' peace process and its relevance for Palestinian refugees 34 6.1 The bilateral negotiations 6.2 The multilateral negotiations 7. Scope of the study 41 7.1 General delimitations and terminology 41 7.2 Note on research methods and sources 7.3 Research questions and outline of the study PART ONE: REFUGEE LAW Chapter Π PALESTINIAN REFUGEES 1. General remarks on the notion of 'Palestinian refugee ' 2. Palestinian refugees as distinguished from other refugees 2.1 Ad Hoc Committee on Statelessness and Related Problems XIV that has judged the final manuscript. I am also indebted to the second member of the committee, Professor Willem van Genügten. I am grateful to Professor Guy Goodwin-Gill for publishing an article that formed the basis for chapter VIII of the thesis in the International Journal of Refugee Law, for inviting me to present a paper on Palestinian refugees at the Colloquium organized by the Journal on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees, and, last but not least, for introducing me to Oxford University Press which will publish the book. The study would not have been possible without the support I received from UNHCR and I am particularly grateful to Michel Moussalli for inviting me to spend two weeks at headquarters in Geneva in order to collect data, and for facilitating the gathering of information from branch offices in Europe and North America. Others within the organization who generously assisted my research in
International Law and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: A Rights-based Approach to Middle East Peace, 2011
This chapter aims to define the broad parameters of a “rights-based approach” to Palestinian refugee housing, property, and land claims as part of a comprehensive solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The first section summarizes key restitution and compensation principles for refugees, highlighting similarities with the specific standards elaborated to resolve Palestinian refugee claims and comparative practice elsewhere. The second section examines how international standards might be applied to resolve practical issues including restitution and compensation mechanisms, discriminatory legislation, documentation, and enforcement. The final section explores potential strategies for a rights-based approach. to resolving the housing, property, and lands claims of Palestinian refugees.
Refugee Survey Quarterly, 2009
The article explores the Palestine refugees' legal status in the Near East: Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. Combining findings of recent surveys with information drawn from primary and secondary sources, it seeks to highlight the continuous interplay of humanitarian, socioeconomic, and political considerations that have shaped the refugees' status in the Near East during two distinct phases of their history, namely before and after the signing of the " Oslo Accords" between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization in September 1993. In this respect, the Palestine refugee experience offers a textbook example of how the relationships between humanitarian agencies, donor and host authorities and refugees evolve in such a way as to maintain over decades, and despite widely diverging agendas, a status quo predicated on the hypothetical advent of a regional peace. The article also sheds light on the potential lines of fragmentation and cohesion that have appeared amongst Palestinians during the " Oslo process" over such crucial issues as the very meaning of the " right of return" and the role United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East ought to be called upon to play pending the achievement of a lasting Arab-Israeli peace process.
The article explores the Palestine refugees' legal status in the Near East: Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. Combining findings of recent surveys with information drawn from primary and secondary sources, it seeks to highlight the continuous interplay of humanitarian, socioeconomic, and political considerations that have shaped the refugees' status in the Near East during two distinct phases of their history, namely before and after the signing of the " Oslo Accords" between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization in September 1993. In this respect, the Palestine refugee experience offers a textbook example of how the relationships between humanitarian agencies, donor and host authorities and refugees evolve in such a way as to maintain over decades, and despite widely diverging agendas, a status quo predicated on the hypothetical advent of a regional peace. The article also sheds light on the potential lines of fragmentation and cohesion that have appeared amongst Palestinians during the " Oslo process" over such crucial issues as the very meaning of the " right of return" and the role United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East ought to be called upon to play pending the achievement of a lasting Arab-Israeli peace process.
Past the Point of No Return?: The Palestinian Right of Return in International Human Rights Law
2005
This article examines the interpretive ambiguity and political obfuscation surrounding the Palestinian right of return in international human rights law. As a bitterly contested site of discourse, it is a topic that penetrates both the Israeli and Palestinian social narratives. Historically, the right of return debate is intrinsically linked to the complexity of the Palestinian refugee crisis, and the conflict over its creation - the right of return is the lung through which the Israeli-Palestinian struggle breathes. In the legal arena, the right of return's treatment in the resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly, international treaty obligations and customary law warrants close scholarly attention. The Palestinians as non-nationals, and as a group of mass displaced persons, face unique challenges under human rights instruments. In the wake of Oslo, and more recently with Israel's disengagement from Gaza, the right of return continues to be at the forefront of po...
The Right of the Palestinian Refugees to Return to their Homes in Theory and in Practice
International Conference on Palestinian Refugees, Conditions and Recent Developments, 2009
This paper examines possible strategies to bridge the gap between theory and practice. The discussion is based on a review of more than a dozen major studies on the Palestinian right of return published over the past three decades. The first section of the paper summarizes the legal debate on the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and places of origin inside Israel and identifies specific areas of disagreement. Section two describes recent efforts to resolve the Palestinian refugee question in light of these disagreements and then examines the gap between theory and practice. The third section of the paper draws upon the discussion in sections one and two and suggests a number of possible strategies to bridge the gap between theory and practice in crafting durable solutions for Palestinian refugees.