Negotiating Rights: Palestinian Refugees and the Protection Gap

Abstract

Introduction It is common knowledge that vulnerable populations such as refugees, minorities and poor are usually at a disadvantage when comes to of their rights as human beings in face of imminent danger (recent media-grabbing examples are victims of hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and violence in Darfur). The American invasion of Iraq in March of 2003 has led country into a spiral of violence that has swept up Iraqi citizens as well as foreign nationals. Among those considered foreigners are Palestinian refugees, who are encountering growing hostility from some sections of Iraqi population and have become target of violence from Iraqi militias. To make situation worse, has now become extremely hard-almost impossible-for Palestinians fleeing growing threats and danger in Iraq to receive asylum in neighboring countries. The current situation of Palestinians in Iraq is particularly illustrative of way in which politics, identity and concept of international human rights have colluded to create what has been referred to by some as a protection gap for Palestinian refugees (Akram and Rempel 2004). In following pages, I attempt to disentangle above mentioned triad and use as an analytical tool for reflection on place of human rights in current world system, especially as relates to Palestinian refugees. Palestinian Refugees and Protection: A Historical Overview During period of 1947 to 1949 which saw creation of state of Israel and fighting of Palestinians and neighboring Arab states against Zionist armies, roughly 750.0001 Palestinian inhabitants of Mandate Palestine became refugees. Leaving their homes and most of their possessions behind, majority of refugees feld to neighboring states of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, as well as to other parts of Mandate Palestine, namely West Bank and Gaza. A small number went to Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya and Saudi Arabia. There are now more than 4 million registered Palestinian refugees, most of whom continue to live in Arab host states.2 In May of 1948, United Nations General Assembly tried to facilitate a political solution between parties involved in Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to provide a resolution of refugee issue by appointing Count Folke Bernadotte as UN Mediator for Palestine. In September of that year, Bernadotte concluded that exodus of Palestinian Arabs resulted from the panic created by fighting in their communities, by rumors concerning real or alleged acts of terrorism, or expulsion (quoted in Takkenberg 1998:14).3 After Bernadotte's assassination in September 1948, United Nations adopted Resolution 194 in December of that same year, recognizing right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and to compensation for their lost or damaged property. However, Israel refused to allow mass repatriation of Palestinian refugees (Morris 1987; Takkenberg 1998). On December 11th 1948, UN established United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine (UNCCP). The UNCCP had a mandate with regard to Palestinian refugees and was to continue with political mediation towards a resolution of conflict between Israelis and Palestinians and ensuing refugee crisis. UNRWA, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in Near East, was established a year later in December 1949, to assist refugees with their immediate needs, while UNCCP continued to look for durable solutions for their plight (Takkenberg 1998). Although office of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, was established in December 1950 to assist all refugees, Palestinian refugees were not absorbed into it. Delegates from international community, writing what would become known as 1951 Refugee Convention on Status of Refugees, felt that it was both unnecessary and unadvisable to include Palestinian refugees into Convention (Akram and Rempel 2004:56). …