2020 Statelessness & Citizenship Review 2(2) statelessness of Palestinians, while in the policy and practice of European states there seems to be a significant diversity in approaches. 5 This contribution does not intend to answer the question of whether and in which circumstances Palestinians may be stateless for the purposes of international law. Rather, we intend to sketch a picture of the remarkably diverging approaches taken by different actors within the same host state, Belgium, and of the protection gaps that this creates. WHO ARE THE “PALESTINIANS” ARRIVING IN BELGIUM? Globally, there are an estimated 13 million Palestinians. 6 This term describes people who share a common heritage and attachment to (historic) Palestine, but who are now dispersed across different countries and territories in the Arab region and around the world. Not all Palestinians are similarly situated in terms of their legal status, including their citizenship. 7 Palestinians enjoy a distinct position under international law. The 1948 Arab– Israeli conflict led to the displacement of Palestinians from territory that had been under the British Mandate for Palestine (historic Palestine). 8 In response, the United Nations established two agencies: the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine [‘UNCCP’], which was mandated to advocate for the protection of Palestinian refugees, 9 and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees [‘UNRWA’], which was mandated to provide assistance to ‘Palestine refugees.’ 10 The UNRWA defined ‘Palestinian refugees’ as anyone ‘whose normal place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948, and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict’, as well as descendants through male lines. 11 Following the 1967 conflict, the UNRWA 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 ‘Learning Exchange Webinar: Statelessness and the Treatment of Palestinians in Europe’ (Webinar, Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion and European Network on Statelessness, 25 November 2019) (‘Statelessness Webinar’). Notes on file with the author. By the end of 2018, roughly 8.7 million (66.7 per cent) of 13.05 million Palestinians worldwide were forcibly displaced persons. Among them are approximately 7.94 million Palestinian refugees and 760,000 internally displaced persons: Nidal al Azza and Lubnah Shomali (eds), ‘Survey of Palestinian Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons 2016–2018’ (Survey No IX, BADIL Resource Centre 2018) xiv <http://www.badil.org/en/publication/survey-of-refugees.html> (‘BADIL Palestinian Survey’). Statelessness Webinar (n 5). British Mandate for Palestine, 8 LNTS 1007 (signed and entered into force 24 July 1922). Palestine — Progress Report of the United Nations Mediator, UN Doc A/RES/194(III) (11 December 1948); BADIL Palestinian Survey (n 6) 59. The United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine is a dormant institution due to lack of political will to find a durable solution in line with resolution 194(III): at 61–63. Assistance to Palestine Refugees, UN Doc A/RES/302(IV) (8 December 1949); BADIL Palestinian Survey (n 6) 59. Consolidated Eligibility and Registration Instructions (Guidelines, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees 1 January 2009) <https://www.unrwa.org/resources/strategy-policy/consolidated-eligibility-and-registrationinstructions>. Persons not counted as part of the official registered refugee population of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (‘UNRWA’) but registered for the purposes of receiving UNRWA services include husbands and descendants of women who are registered refugees and are (or were) married to husbands who are not registered refugees. The husbands and descendants, including legally adopted children, of these women are eligible to register to receive UNRWA services: at 5. 302