Handbook of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies UNRWA and Palestinian Refugees refugee ‘is a needy person, who, as a result of the war in Palestine, has lost his home and his means of livelihood’ (UNRWA 1950). This category incorporated ‘Displaced Persons’ (UNGA Res. 2252, 1967) who were forced from their homes in the 1967 conflict, but was discontinued when Jordan assumed responsibility for them. In 1993, UNRWA omitted both the requirement to establish ‘need’ and ‘flight from Palestine as a result of the 1948 conflict’ as criteria for registration; however, the need for assistance remains the determinant of eligibility for services (UNRWA, 2009). UNRWA’s current Consolidated Eligibility and Registration Instructions (CERI) define Palestine refugees—the largest group registered with UNRWA, but not the only category for UNRWA registration and services-- as ‘persons 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’ (Ibid, Part III.A.1). The third definition applicable to Palestinians as refugees is the ‘universal’ definition incorporated into Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Refugee Convention. Article 1A(2) refers to refugees of any nationality or origin; it defines a refugee based on individualised assessment of fear of persecution due to one (or more) of five prescribed grounds—race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or particular social group. Article 1D, on the other hand, applies to Palestinians as an 12