Handbook of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies
UNRWA and Palestinian Refugees
rather than the group definition established under Res. 194—the protection definition operational
for UNCCP. It required Palestinian refugees to demonstrate that they left the host countries
owing to a ‘well-founded fear of persecution’ on the grounds cited in Article 1A(2). The
Handbook’s oversight of the ‘inclusion clause’ encouraged a restrictive interpretation of Article
1D in a number of states.
UNHCR has amended its interpretation of Article 1D in two Notes on the Applicability of Article
1D of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees to Palestinian Refugees (2002 and
2009). The Notes define three categories of Palestinian refugees:
a) ‘Palestine refugees’ in the sense of Res. 194(III), displaced from the part of Palestine that
became Israel and unable to return there.
b) ‘Displaced Persons’ within the sense of Res. 2252, who have been unable to return to the
Occupied Territories due to Israeli policies since 1967.
c) ‘Palestinian refugees’ neither 1948 nor 1967 displaced persons who are outside the
Occupied Territories but are unable or unwilling to return there due to a well-founded
fear of persecution under the meaning of Refugee Convention Article 1A(2).
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