30. The phrase “benefits of this Convention” in the second paragraph of Article 1D
refers to the substantive rights contained in Articles 2 to 34 of the 1951 Convention
and which are attached to being a refugee, as defined in Article 1 of the 1951
Convention. The term “benefits” cannot mean simply access to asylum procedures for
determining refugee status as Article 1 does not itself contain any benefits – it simply
defines who is and who is not entitled to have access to those benefits.65 This
interpretation is also supported by the equally authentic French version of Article 1D,
which uses the expression “bénéficieront de plein droit du régime de cette convention.”
They benefit by operation of law and “as of right” once they fulfil the criteria in Article
1D.66
31. Palestinian refugees protected under Article 1D are entitled to receive the same
rights, benefits and standards of treatment as other refugees recognized under Articles
1A(1) or 1A(2), so there is no more favourable treatment provided to Article 1D
refugees than other refugees. They each enjoy the benefits of the Refugee Convention
set out in Articles 2 to 34.67
G. Applicability of Article 1C
32. The 1951 Convention will cease to apply under certain conditions, clearly defined
in Article 1C.68 Article 1C applies in principle to Palestinian refugees benefiting from
the 1951 Convention on an individual basis. Although a literal interpretation of Article
1C, which explicitly references only refugees recognised under “Article 1A” of the 1951
Convention, would render it inapplicable to Article 1D Palestinian refugees, such an
interpretation no longer corresponds to the reality that a number of Palestinian
refugees have acquired the nationality and protection of other countries,69 such that
they no longer need the protection of the 1951 Convention. Notwithstanding the special
situation of Palestinian refugees provided for by Article 1D, the provisions of Article 1C
may be applied, account being taken of the considerable passage of time, changing
jure refugees under the 1951 Convention and should thereby be entitled to refugee status in any State
party to the 1951 Convention.” Mutaz M. Qafisheh and Valentina Azarov, ‘Article 1D’, in A. Zimmermann
(ed.), The 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol: A Commentary,
(Oxford University Press, 2011), 537-569, at 567.
65 Ibid.. UNHCR Oral intervention in El Kott. This view is supported by the use of the term “benefits”
elsewhere in the Refugee Convention, for example in Articles 5 and 7, in a context that can only mean
the substantive rights conferred by the Refugee Convention. Nor can the term benefits merely refer to
non-refoulement.
66 El Kott, note 9 above, paras 70-71. See also, AD (Palestine), note 2 above, para. 192.
67 See, UNHCR Oral intervention in El Kott, para. 16, note 70 above. The discrimination argument was
roundly rejected by the CJEU in El Kott, note 9 above, para 78.
68
UNHCR, “The Cessation Clauses: Guidelines on their Application”, 26 April 1999,
http://www.refworld.org/docid/3c06138c4.html and UNHCR, Guidelines on International Protection No.
3: Cessation of Refugee Status under Article 1C(5) and (6) of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status
of Refugees (the "Ceased Circumstances" Clauses), 10 February 2003, HCR/GIP/03/03,
http://www.refworld.org/docid/3e50de6b4.html.
69 “A great number of Palestinian refugee residing in Jordan have acquired Jordanian citizenship in
accordance with the relevant provisions of the Nationality Law of 4 February 1954. Citizenship has also
been obtained by a number of Palestinian refugees residing in Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and
other countries in the region. As a result of the acquisition of a new nationality such persons are no
longer to be considered as refugees for the purpose of the 1951 Convention” [depending on whether
the relevant criteria set out in Article 1C paragraph 3 are met]. Takkenberg, note 5 above, 127 (footnotes
omitted).
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