Palestinian refugee camps were first established to accommodatePalestinians who were displaced by the1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight during the1948 Palestine war.[1] Camps were established by theUnited Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) inJordan,Lebanon,Syria, theWest Bank and theGaza Strip. A subsequent wave of Palestinian refugees were created in theNaksa after theSix-Day War in 1967.[2]
There are 68 Palestinian refugee camps in total, 58 official and 10 unofficial,[3] ten of which were established after the Six-Day War while the others were established in 1948 to 1950s.
Only a third of registered Palestinian refugees live within the boundaries of the refugee camps.[4] Most have integrated socially and economically outside the camps.[5] Many live in adjacent geographic areas.[6]
The number of registered Palestine refugees grew from 750,000 in 1950 to around 5 million in 2013.[7]
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UNRWA's mandate is to provide assistance to Palestinian refugees, including access to its refugee camps. For this purpose, it defines Palestinian refugees as "persons whose normal place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948, and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict."[7]
UNRWA also extends assistance to the patrilineal descendants of such refugees, as well as their legally adopted children.[7]
For a camp to be recognized by UNRWA, there must be an agreement between the host government and UNRWA governing use of the camp. UNRWA does not itself run any camps, has no police powers or administrative role, but simply provides services to the camp. UNRWA recognizes facilities in 58 designatedrefugee camps inJordan,Lebanon,Syria, theWest Bank and theGaza Strip, and it also provides facilities in other areas where large numbers of registered Palestine refugees live outside of recognized camps. UNRWA also provided relief to Jewishdisplaced persons insideIsrael following the 1948 conflict until the Israeli government took over responsibility for them in 1952. Refugee camps developed from tented cities to rows of concrete blockhouses to urban ghettos indistinguishable from their surroundings (effectively becoming urban developments within existing cities or by themselves), that house around one third of all registered Palestine refugees.
TheFunding for UNRWA activities comes almost entirely from voluntary contributions from UN member states. UNRWA also receives some funding from the Regular Budget of the United Nations, which is used mostly for international staffing costs.[7]
The camps are divided between five regions:
The evolution of Palestinian refugee population is shown below:[78][5][79]
| 1950 | 1960 | 1970 | 1980 | 1990 | 2000 | 2004 | 2009 | 2018 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jordan | 506,200 | 613,743 | 506,038 | 716,372 | 929,097 | 1,570,192 | 1,758,274 | 1,951,603 | 2,242,579 |
| Lebanon | 127,600 | 136,561 | 175,958 | 226,554 | 302,049 | 376,472 | 396,890 | 422,188 | 475,075 |
| Syria | 82,194 | 115,043 | 158,717 | 209,362 | 280,731 | 383,199 | 417,346 | 461,897 | 560,139 |
| West Bank | – | – | 272,692 | 324,035 | 414,298 | 583,009 | 675,670 | 762,820 | 846,465 |
| Gaza Strip | 198,227 | 255,542 | 311,814 | 367,995 | 496,339 | 824,622 | 938,531 | 1,073,303 | 1,421,282 |
| Total registered refugees | 914,221 | 1,120,889 | 1,425,219 | 1,844,318 | 2,422,514 | 3,737,494 | 4,186,711 | 4,671,811 | 5,545,540 |
The number of Palestinian refugees living within the UNWRA registered area of operations is shown below, both those living in camps and those living outside camps:[4][5][79]
| Registered persons (refugees and other) | Registered refugees in camps | % registered refugees in camps | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | 870,158 | 300,785 | 34.6 |
| 1955 | 912,425 | 351,532 | 38.5 |
| 1960 | 1,136,487 | 409,223 | 36.0 |
| 1965 | 1,300,117 | 508,042 | 39.1 |
| 1970 | 1,445,022 | 500,985 | 34.7 |
| 1975 | 1,652,436 | 551,643 | 33.4 |
| 1980 | 1,863,162 | 613,149 | 32.9 |
| 1985 | 2,119,862 | 805,482 | 38.0 |
| 1990 | 2,466,516 | 697,709 | 28.3 |
| 1995 | 3,246,044 | 1,007,375 | 31.0 |
| 2000 | 3,806,055 | 1,227,954 | 32.3 |
| 2005 | 4,283,892 | 1,265,987 | 29.6 |
| 2010 | 4,966,664 | 1,452,790 | 29.3 |
| 2015 | 5,741,480 | 1,632,876 | 28.4 |
| 2018 | 6,171,793 | 1,728,409 | 28.0 |
The table below shows the population of registered refugees, other registered people, and refugees residing in camps, in 2018.[80] UNRWA's definition of Other Registered Persons refer to "those who, at the time of original registration did not satisfy all of UNRWA's Palestine refugee criteria, but who were determined to have suffered significant loss and/or hardship for reasons related to the 1948 conflict in Palestine; they also include persons who belong to the families of other registered persons."[81]
| Jordan | Lebanon | Syria | West Bank | Gaza Strip | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Registered refugees | 2,242,579 | 475,075 | 560,139 | 846,465 | 1,421,282 | 5,545,540 |
| Other registered people | 133,902 | 58,810 | 83,003 | 201,525 | 149,013 | 626,253 |
| Total registered people | 2,376,481 | 533,885 | 643,142 | 1,047,990 | 1,570,295 | 6,171,793 |
| Refugees living within official camp borders | 412,054 | 270,614 | 194,993 | 256,758 | 593,990 | 1,728,409 |
| % living within camp borders | 18.4% | 57.0% | 34.8% | 30.3% | 41.8% | 31.2% |
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References
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