Legal briefing on the rights of stateless Palestinians in the UK September 2025 requires careful consideration).54 Thus, once recognised as refugees under Article 1D, no additional assessment under Article 1A(2) is required.55 Given the way Article 1D operates, it has been suggested that it would be most accurately described as a ‘contingent inclusion clause’.56 ARTICLE 1D of the refugee convention This Convention shall not apply to persons who are at present receiving from organs or agencies of the United Nations other than the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees protection or assistance. When such protection or assistance has ceased for any reason, without the position of such persons being definitively settled in accordance with the relevant resolutions adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations, these persons shall ipso facto be entitled to the benefits of this Convention. Article 1D was drafted to ensure the continuation of protection for Palestinian refugees, and was only intended to conditionally exclude Palestinians from the remit of UNHCR to allow UNRWA (and UNCCP) to provide a tailored and more appropriate solution for displaced Palestinians.57 Article 1D does not intend to permanently exclude Palestinians from international protection, as has been recognised by regional and domestic courts.58 A broad interpretation of Article 1D which reflects this purpose is thus required, as recommended by UNHCR.59 2.1.1. The personal scope of Article 1D: the exclusion clause of the first paragraph Article 1D applies to all those who are eligible to receive assistance from UNRWA within one of its five operational areas and thus may apply to ‘Palestine Refugees’, ‘displaced persons’, and their descendants (as described in Section 1.1).60 UNRWA has also published instructions that specify and define categories of persons eligible to receive UNRWA assistance.61 UNHCR guidance outlines that the words ‘at present receiving’ in Article 1D are to be interpreted as referring to individuals who are, or were, receiving assistance and to those who are eligible to 54 The application of the exclusion clauses under the Refugee Convention to Palestinian refugees falling within the scope of Article 1D requires careful consideration. Article 1C states that it applies to ‘any person falling under the terms of section A’, which would not be the case for those falling under Article 1D. The termination clause under Article 1E may also be incompatible with Article 1D. For a detailed analysis, see Susan Akram, ‘UNRWA and Palestinian Refugees’ in The Oxford Handbook of Refugee & Forced Migration Studies (eds E. Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, G. Loescher, K. Long, N. Sigona, OUP, 2014), p 236. 55 UNHCR, Guidelines on Article 1D (fn 14) para 3. See also CJEU, El Kott, C-364/11 (19 December 2012) para 81. In the UK context, see First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber), AB and NB v Secretary of State for the Home Department, PA/07864/2019 & PA/07865/20119 (29 March 2023) para 9. 56 Susan Akram, ‘UNRWA and Palestinian Refugees’ (fn 54) p 233. 57 UNHCR, Guidelines on Article 1D (fn 14) para 12. For more information on the preparatory works of the Refugee Convention see Albanese and Takkenberg, Palestinian Refugees in International Law (fn 25) Part One (II) S 3.2; BADIL, Closing Protection Gaps (fn 5), preface. This purpose is also recognised in the UK Home Office, Asylum Policy Instruction - Article 1D of the Refugee Convention: Palestinian refugees assisted by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) (2016) p 4. 58 CJEU, Office Français de Protection des Réfugiés et Apatrides (OFPRA) v SW, C-294/22 (5 October 2023), para 37; SN and LN (fn 53) para 70; New Zealand Immigration and Protection Tribunal, AD (Palestine), [2015] NZIPT 800693–695, para 99. 59 UNHCR, Guidelines on Article 1D (fn 14) paras 6-7. 60 UNHCR, Guidelines on Article 1D (fn 14) paras 8, 17. 61 UNRWA, Consolidated Eligibility and Registration Instructions (CERI) (2009). 16