Legal briefing on the rights of stateless Palestinians in the UK September 2025 2. Protection under the refugee convention Palestinians in need of international protection may be entitled to protection as a refugee under Article 1A(2) or Article 1D of the Refugee Convention, or have a right to protection under other human rights law (e.g., complementary protection or protection of family or private life).50 Article 1A(2) of the Refugee Convention affords protection to refugees who face a well-founded fear of persecution for one of the five reasons set out in the Convention (race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership of a particular social group). Article 1D (second paragraph) provides for the automatic recognition as refugees of individuals for whom UNRWA assistance or protection has ceased. We will first analyse the scope of Article 1D, before assessing how the general provision under Article 1A is applied to Palestinian refugees. Before proceeding with the analysis of protection under the Refugee Convention, it must be noted that legal practitioners have identified the lack of adequate country-of-origin information covering statelessness specific issues and the conditions faced by stateless Palestinians, particularly in UNRWA’s areas of operation, as a specific challenge to advancing asylum claims.51 Difficulties accessing relevant country of origin information are compounded in the oPt due to the refusal by the Israeli authorities to permit the entry of humanitarian and media organisations to Gaza.52 The importance of relying on accurate and up to date country of origin information has been emphasised by numerous courts in relation to statelessness and asylum applications. In SN and LN, the CJEU affirmed the obligation of Member States to ensure that up to date country of origin information is used in the assessment of claims for asylum. Information from various sources should be reviewed, including the EUAA, UNHCR and international organisations for the protection of human rights.53 Annex I provides a summary of additional resources and country-of-origin information to support asylum claims by Palestinian applicants. 2.1. Protection under Article 1D The first paragraph of Article 1D of the Refugee Convention operates as an exclusion clause, which conditionally excludes persons who are receiving protection or assistance from a UN agency other than UNHCR. In practice, this clause is applied to persons receiving assistance or protection from UNRWA, as it is currently the only relevant and operational UN agency with a mandate for Palestinian refugees in its areas of operation. This is followed by an inclusion clause in the second paragraph of Article 1D, stating that if such protection or assistance ceases, the persons concerned are automatically entitled to the benefits of the Refugee Convention without needing to prove individualised persecution (provided other relevant exclusion clauses to not apply, although this 50 In European Union (EU) law, Article 1D has been mirrored in Article 12(1)(a) of the EU Qualification Directive (Directive 2011/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on standards for the qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection, for a uniform status for refugees or for persons eligible for subsidiary protection, and for the content of the protection granted (recast)). 51 This was identified in discussions with practitioners by ENS. This gap was identified by Asylos following a review of publicly available country of origin information, case law and interviews with lawyers across the UK and Europe. See Asylos, Palestine (Gaza): United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) 1 August – 24 September 2024 (2024), p 3. 52 ibid, p 10. 53 Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), SN and LN, C-563/22 (13 June 2023), para 77. 15