Handbook of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies
UNRWA and Palestinian Refugees
Access to Durable Solutions
As for the second link, international agency mandates tied to refugee protection, UNRWA and/or
UNHCR have not replaced UNCCP’s broad mandate. UNCCP had a more expanded notion of
protection in its obligations to resolve conflict issues, negotiate for restitution of the refugees’
property, and secure return and compensation rights. At the same time, UNCCP did not have a
clearly articulated mandate of day-to-day protection (UNCCP 1950). UNCCP’s category
definition relates to persecution by Israel and applies to Palestinians everywhere who fit that
category, as well as their descendants. The UNGA has affirmed that Res. 194(III) also covers
1967 Displaced Persons and that ‘just settlement’, as it appears in later resolutions, refers to Res.
194(III)’s formula for durable solutions (ie UNSC 1967).Finally, UNCCP’s mandate of
international protection, including seeking durable solutions, terminates as a legal matter when
the conditions of Res. 194(III) are satisfied for the entire category defined under that Resolution,
and not otherwise (1951 Convention, Art. 1C & 1E).
UNRWA’s Protection Role and Weaknesses in its Mandate
Addressing the third link, UNRWA’s benefits or services are provided to individual ‘registered’
Palestinian refugees and categories of Palestinians on the basis of need for assistance or specified
vulnerabilities. Following amendments made over time to accommodate subsequent groups of
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