Handbook of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies
UNRWA and Palestinian Refugees
Another inconsistency between these two definitions is the application of the cessation clauses to
refugee status. The status of a refugee defined under Article 1A(2) can terminate under the
application of Article 1C of the Refugee Convention when s/he has taken steps to re-establish
himself in his country of nationality or obtains nationality and protection in a new state; and
under Article 1E when s/he has established residence in a second state that grants him rights
equivalent to those of a national. For Palestinians, the application of these clauses is extremely
problematic; long-term residence in an Arab host state would terminate any refugee status s/he
may claim under the Convention. However, the Article 1C cessation clauses do not apply to
Palestinians, as Article 1C states, “This Convention shall cease to apply to any person falling
under the terms of section A . . . .”. Article 1D refugees do not fall “under the terms of Section
A,” hence 1C does not refer to Palestinians at all. The Article 1E cessation clause might apply to
Palestinians, but that would be inconsistent with the termination clause under Article 1D. The
termination of 1D refugee status for Palestinian refugees occurs when they are ‘ . . . definitively
settled in accordance with the relevant resolutions adopted by the General Assembly of the
United Nations . . . ’, that is, when the Res. 194(III), Para. 11 formula has been fulfilled, and not
by the application of other cessation or termination provisions.
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