Written By Dana Nazha

Photo By The Palestinian Return Center

Palestinian refugees remain to be subject to many restrictions in Lebanon, as they are second-class citizens, with very limited access to human right. This refugee population makes up one-tenth of the entire Lebanese population. Most of them are Palestinians that were expelled out of their homes in 1948. With Israel now taking up their lands and homes, they are not able to return to their homeland and have thus become one of the world’s longest-established refugee populations. 

The failure of the Lebanese government as well as other regional states in managing the refugee crisis have made refugees live through appalling social and economic conditions. The official refugee camps in Lebanon allocated for Palestinian refugees are not sufficient in size, allowing Palestinian to live in overcrowded places that lack basic infrastructure. Also, the number of official refugee camps in Lebanon has barely changed since 1949, even though there was a four times increase in the registered refugee population. 

With the ongoing social and economic crisis in Lebanon, Syrian and Palestinian refugees have been competing over the scarce resources provided by the informal Lebanese labor market, while agencies working with refugees are still underestimating the issue. 

“With the Syrian influx to Lebanon, the needs of all refugees have maximized,” mentioned Sawan Abou Zahr, a young Palestinian lady. 

With the Lebanese economic crisis deeply affecting Palestinian refugees, many young Palestinian women took part in the October 17 revolution in Lebanon. Too many Palestinian women, the protests were an open space for them to proudly express their identity in a wider context, and simultaneously join the Lebanese in their struggle toward democracy and fighting corruption. 

“I wasn’t intruding in your internal affairs as I had the right to protest for those Palestinians who are living under very harsh circumstances,” Safiya, a Palestinian woman residing in Lebanon mentioned. “Joining the protests does not mean that we seek the Lebanese nationality, on the contrary, we only want to return to Palestine”.

The discriminatory laws in Lebanon relating to property, social security, and education, deeply affect nearly 422,000 Palestinian refugees registered in Lebanon. The principle of reciprocity is still applied in Lebanese law, in which the right to work is only granted to nationals of states. Thus, Palestinians do not have the official right to work since they are stateless. Law 296 in the Lebanese Penal code prohibits people who do not have citizenship from a recognized state to own property in Lebanon. This restrictive law denies Palestinian refugees their right to have security outside of camps, thus forcing the majority to live in overcrowded and unsanitary camps. 

The Lebanese law also denies Palestinian refugees their right to social security and consequently also denies Palestinian children any social security protection. Furthermore, Lebanese law specifies that public education is free and compulsory in the primary phase for every Lebanese citizen. By specifying that only Lebanese children have the right to public and free education, Palestinian children refugees are thus denied their right to access education. 

Aside from the discriminative laws, the Lebanese state often issues new arrangements that further prohibit Palestinians from having basic human rights. For example, during the elections in Lebanon, multiple municipalities across Lebanon issued new curfews for Palestinian and Syrian refugees, asking them to not leave their homes until Monday, May 16, unless it is an emergency case. Such restrictions based on nationality are considered to be illegal, as they alienate communities and can fuel hostility. 

Ever since 1948, the Lebanese state has been very reluctant to host Palestinian refugees. It has thus created policies that restrict their basic human rights and prevent their permanent integration and settlement in Lebanon. Until this day, the question of the naturalization of Palestinian refugees remains to be a very contentious issue.