Provide Convention Refugee Status to Palestinians Fleeing Syria

The UNHCR refuses to assess and grant Convention Status to Palestinians fleeing from Syria due to an administrative oversight.

A Convention refugee is defined in the 1951 Convention “a person who is outside of their country of nationality or habitual residence and who is unable or unwilling to return to that country because of a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, political opinion, nationality or membership in a particular social group.” Many Palestinians fleeing from Syria fall under this definition. In order to be sponsored into many countries (including Canada and the United State) as a refugee you must be recognized by the UNHCR as a convention refugee.

Convention refugees fall under the UNHCR’s mandate, however it is UNHCR policy not to grant Palestinians fleeing from Syria convention status due to the administrative reason that Palestinian’s in Syria were under UNRWA protection and since UNRWA exists in Lebanon UNRWA administratively responsible. This administrative oversight has serious humanitarian implications and results in the perpetuation of the Palestinian/ Syrian refugee crisis in Lebanon as it prevents Palestinians from seeking sponsorship into countries such as Canada and the United States which require UNHCR status not UNRWA recognition. The increased number of Palestinian refugees puts a strain on resources for Syrian refugees as it creates greater competition for scarce resources.

Currently there are more than 40 000 Palestinian Refugees from Syria in Lebanon (this is in addition to Palestinian refugees from 1948/1967 who number exceeds 400 000). Palestinians in Lebanon are not allowed to own land, open businesses without Lebanese partners, practice regulated professions such as Medicine, Law and Engineering.

While it is understandable that UNHCR would want UNRWA to bear the responsibility for providing services to Palestinians this should not prevent them from assessing and providing documentation of the convention status of the Palestinian Refugees from Syria; since this is what is required by most governments to allow for sponsorship and resettlement.