benefit of the refugees.27 The UN has a duty of care in managing these
properties, and any revenues derived from them (e.g. rents, agricultural
use, or other income-generating activities) should legally be held in trust
and directed toward the benefit of the refugees themselves.28 These
revenues could partially fund services provided by UNRWA, consistent
with the UN’s fiduciary responsibilities.
The UNGA’s Resolution 36/146C of 1981,29 recognizes refugees’ rights
to both their properties and the income generated from them. It calls on
the UNSG, in consultation with the UNCCP, to take steps to protect these
assets and to establish a fund to receive the revenues. If fully activated
and implemented, though continuously prevented from doing so by
the Israeli regime since 1949,30 a UN-administered fund could ensure
that the income from refugee properties is directed toward supporting
Palestinian refugees—including through partially financing UNRWA’s
essential services—until restitution and return are fulfilled.31
These are but two alternative financing pathways that could be
27 BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights. Forced Population
Transfer: The Case of Palestine – Denial of Reparations, Working Paper No. 22. Bethlehem: BADIL,
October 2018. https://badil.org/cached_uploads/view/2021/04/19/wp22-reparations-ofreparations-1618823911.pdf.
28 United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine. Measures for the Protection of the Rights,
Property and Interests of the Palestine Arab Refugees. UN Doc. A/AC.25/W/81/Rev.2. New
York: United Nations, (11 March 1964). https://www.un.org/unispal/document/autoinsert-179612/.
29 United Nations General Assembly, Resolution 36/146C: Palestine Refugees’ Properties and Their
Revenues, A/RES/36/146C (December 9, 1981). https://documents.un.org/doc/resolution/
gen/nr0/407/72/pdf/nr040772.pdf.
30 Adnan Abdelrazek, “Israeli Violation of UN Resolution 194 (III) and Others Pertaining to
Palestinian Refugee Property,” Palestine-Israel Journal 15–16, no. 3 (2008), https://pij.org/
articles/1220; United Nations General Assembly, Report of the Secretary-General on Palestine
Refugees’ Properties and Their Revenues, A/72/334 (August 14, 2017). https://docs.un.org/
en/A/72/334.
31 BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights. Forced Population
Transfer: The Case of Palestine – Denial of Reparations, Working Paper No. 22. Bethlehem: BADIL,
October 2018. https://badil.org/cached_uploads/view/2021/04/19/wp22-reparations-ofreparations-1618823911.pdf.
12
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