Tucker Comparative Migration Studies (2018) 6:29 This differentiation between Syrian and Palestinian refugees on the part of neighbouring Arab states mirrors a differentiation at the level of the United Nations. UNHCR’s mission specifically excludes Palestinians. Instead they are served by a separate agency, UNRWA, and UNRWA’s mission does not include protection. Thus, even though the UNHCR and UNRWA are working jointly under the Syrian Regional Response Plan to assist all refugees from Syria, it is not clear so far if the UNHCR will exercise its protective mission to pressure Jordan and Lebanon to stop turning away Palestinians seeking sanctuary, or to prevent discriminatory treatment. For the PRS in Jordan and Lebanon there are no legal mechanisms to regulate their entry or stay, leaving them in limbo, as well as the population being the target of state and societal discrimination (Eshnaiwer, 2015; Human Rights Watch, 2014; Sayigh, 2013). This includes fees specifically for PRS to renew visas, restricted movement, limited access to services on par with Syrian refugees and instances of forced return to Syria (Sayigh, 2013). The PRS even face differential treatment by UNRWA compared to other Palestinians, with the organisation “register[ing] them as non-registered assistance recipients to ensure that the PRS remain registered with UNRWA-Syria, but their basic needs are covered by UNRWA in the host country” (Eshnaiwer, 2015, p. 9). This protection gap for the PRS exists within contexts where stateless people in general face a complete lack of any real prospect of acquiring a legal status, citizenship, or formal employment (ISI & NRC, 2016). For all participants in both Germany and Sweden, the difficulties PRS faced in Syria’s neighbouring states, and in some cases the wider region, impacted their decision to seek asylum in Europe. Tasneem and Ayham in Sweden reflected on how their statelessness limited their choice of possible destinations as compared to the opportunities available to refugees with Syrian citizenship: “Syrians have the choice to go to Lebanon; Syrians have the choice to go to Turkey, to Egypt and they can go to Egypt right now. To Jordan. Palestinians can’t go anywhere other than just being stuck in Syria.” (Tasneem, Sweden). “If I was Syrian, I’d go to Britain, to Britain or Germany. But when I looked at my options, Sweden was the easiest and most secure way.” (Ayham, Sweden). Ali in Sweden reflected upon how if he had not been PRS he would have headed for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to best utilise the social networks and human capital he had, instead of Sweden where he had only weak social ties: “If I was Syrian, I’d probably just have gone to another Arab country — I have three brothers in the UAE but I couldn’t get a visa to get to them. Even to get a visa to Lebanon wasn’t an easy thing. Choosing to go through Turkey to Sweden was because I’m Palestinian and, because I’m Palestinian, I can’t get a visa to any Arab country, so I had to go that way. First, before deciding to go to Lebanon... I was trying to get a visa to the UAE but it didn’t work out. The UAE would have been a better choice for me; I had three brothers there, it’s an Arab country, so I could have started working again easily there.” Page 12 of 17