Table 3.1: Summary of Refugee Protection, 2021 International Standards of General Refugee Protection for Refugees Protection The protection gap for Palestinian Refugees Physical safety and security · UNHCR is mandated to provide · All states are bound by the principle of non(protection against physical basic security to refugees. refoulement, a peremptory norm of international law, harm) including non- · Signatory states to the Refugee but are not necessarily fulfilling it. refoulement. Convention are required to · Signatory states to the Refugee Convention often provide asylum and protection apply a misguided and overly broad interpretation of and abide by the principle of Article 1D to deny basic asylum rights to Palestinian non-refoulement. refugees. Legal protection (ensuring and · UNHCR is mandated to seek respecting fundamental human permanent solutions for the rights and freedoms, including problem of refugees, including access to justice, legal status, voluntary repatriation and protection of property, and finding assimilation. a durable solution). · Signatory states to the Refugee Convention are required to facilitate resettlement and respect the principle of voluntariness of return. · UNCCP was mandated to legal protection of Palestinian refugees but has abdicated its mandate. · UNRWA has no official mandate to seek durable solutions and does not practically engage in this area. · UNHCR, on the basis of a narrow and misguided interpretation of Article 1D of the Refugee Convention, repudiates any responsibility in this regard. · The international community has proven impotent in the face of Israeli refusal, backed by the United States, to acknowledge Palestinian refugees. Material security (ensuring · UNHCR is mandated to provide · UNRWA is mandated to provide services and relief the well-being of the persons material security to refugees. to Palestine refugees only within its five areas of involved, that is, to guarantee · Signatory states to the Refugee operation (Gaza, West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, and Convention are required to Jordan). their human dignity and equal provide a minimum standard of · Deficiencies in its mandate, chronic underfunding and access to basic goods and security based on the principle consequent budget cuts are increasingly restricting services). of non-discrimination. the services it can provide. The New York Declaration and GCR In the context of the 2015-2016 influx of refugees into Europe, new, non-binding legal instruments were drafted in order to broadly reappraise the issue of refugees in the international sphere. Among these new instruments were the New York Declaration (NYD) of 2016 and its Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF), as well as the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) of 2018. The NYD and GCR both aim to “promote durable solutions, particularly in protracted refugee situations, with a focus on sustainable and timely return in safety and dignity”. They differ from existing instruments of refugee law by in that they emphasize the importance of addressing the root causes of a given refugee problem, easing pressures on host countries, enhancing refugee self-reliance and resilience, expanding access to third country solutions, in addition to supporting conditions in countries of origin to facilitate a safe and dignified process of return. However, any effort to utilize the NYD and GCR to pursue durable solutions for Palestinian refugees and IDPs must be coupled with the Palestinian people’s demand for the right to self-determination and their demand that Israel be held accountable for its international crimes. The failure to resolve the Palestinian refugee issue is however not due to a dearth of 84