Legal briefing on the rights of stateless Palestinians in the UK September 2025 receive assistance.62 However, this interpretation is distinct from the interpretation of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) as established in Bolbol, which states: ‘It follows from the clear wording of Article 1D of the Geneva Convention that only those persons who have actually availed themselves of the assistance provided by UNRWA come within the clause excluding refugee status set out therein, which must, as such, be construed narrowly and cannot therefore also cover persons who are or have been eligible to receive protection or assistance from that agency’ (emphasis added).63 The holding in Bolbol, that only persons who have ‘actually availed themselves’ of the assistance provided by UNRWA come within the scope of Article 1D, creates a protection gap for some Palestinians who are or were eligible to register with UNRWA. UNHCR rejects the holding in Bolbol as being incompatible with the object and purpose of Article 1D and urges decision-makers to take a more favourable approach in line with the protective purpose of Article 1D. UNHCR considers that this narrow interpretation also creates a two-tier approach to protection, where individuals fleeing the same circumstances are subject to different treatment depending on whether they have received assistance. Such an interpretation, which differentiates between similarly situated individuals, is in conflict with the purpose of Article 1D to provide continuing protection and assistance for all Palestinian refugees, ‘whose refugee character is already established’.64 Once it has been established that an individual falls within the scope of the first paragraph of Article 1D, they will be excluded from protection under the Refugee Convention unless it has been determined that assistance has ceased for any reason, which would trigger the inclusion clause in the second paragraph of Article 1D. 2.1.2. The functional scope of Article 1D: the inclusion clause of the second paragraph The inclusion clause in the second paragraph of Article 1D will be triggered once a Palestinian is outside of UNRWA’s areas of operation (in line with the geographical limitations of UNRWA) and where protection or assistance has been established to have ceased for any reason. Once assistance from UNRWA has been established to have ceased, the applicant is automatically entitled to refugee status, as long as other exclusion clauses are not applicable.65 Following the plain language of the Refugee Convention, the reasons why the person left an UNRWA area of operation, including whether they left voluntarily or involuntarily, are not of itself determinative. The key determining factor is whether the person is currently able to (re)avail themselves of UNRWA’s assistance. Further, the term ‘ceased for any reason’ should be interpreted broadly, in line with the object and purpose of the Convention, and include circumstances other than the cessation of UNRWA’s mandate. These aspects have also been confirmed in UNHCR guidance.66 However, UNHCR guidance also states that if an individual is outside UNRWA’s area of operation but is currently able to safely return to it and refuses to (re)avail themselves of UNRWA’s 62 UNHCR, Guidelines on Article 1D (fn 14) para 13. Registration with UNRWA is sufficient proof of receiving assistance from it and falling within the scope of Article 1D, but it should not be a prerequisite as assistance can also be provided in the absence of registration. 63 CJEU, Bolbol, C-31/09 (17 June 2010) para 51. This was confirmed in El Kott (fn 55) para 65. 64 UNHCR, Guidelines on Article 1D (fn 14) paras 13-14 65 El Kott (fn 55) para 81. 66 UNHCR, Guidelines on Article 1D (fn 14) paras 18-19. 17