Back to Contents The concept of statelessness may also be difficult to translate into various national contexts or languages, resulting in diverse terminology describing situations of statelessness. For example, groups who are experiencing statelessness in different geographical areas may be described using local terminology, which does not appear to relate to the concept of statelessness as defined by the 1954 Convention. The lack of universal terminology to describe the situation of statelessness informed our approach to this research. In particular, the research highlights the different legal statuses that exist amongst Palestinians in Lebanon and the terms used to describe those statuses, as well as the (lack of a) definition of statelessness in Lebanese law, the various Arabic terms that may be used to describe stateless groups in Lebanon, and who they refer to. Sources covering the situation of Palestinians in Lebanon often use the terms “Palestine refugees”9 (often referred to as PRL) and “Palestinian refugees”10, with the former referring to refugees under the mandate of UNRWA and the latter to refugees of Palestinian heritage more generally. Additional terms that are used to describe the status of Palestinians Lebanon in the COI include the following: Non-registered refugees: this refers to refugees of Palestinian origin who are registered with the Lebanese Directorate of Political Affairs and Refugees, but are not, for various reasons, registered with UNRWA.11 Non-ID refugees: this refers to Palestinians who are neither registered as Palestine refugees with UNRWA, nor with the Lebanese Government. People belonging to this group do not have any kind of status in Lebanon.12 Palestinian refugees from Syria (often referred to as PRS): this refers to people of Palestinian origin who fled from Syria following the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011.13 This report also includes sources that make reference to non-Palestinian stateless persons, including those who have some form of documentation and undocumented persons. The latter are frequently known as Maktoumi al-Qaid (those who are not registered) in vernacular language, and the former as Qaid a-dars, meaning “under-study” as directly translated.14 Note that “Qaid” is sometimes spelled “Kayd” in the sources. Whilst acknowledging the complexities that exist in defining the situation of Palestinians in Lebanon, and the varying and inconsistent ways in which the COI refers to this group, Asylos has chosen to refer to Palestinians in Lebanon as “stateless Palestinians”, as well as – where useful – using some of the terms outlined above, which refer to specific subgroups of Palestinians in Lebanon. Where Asylos uses the term “stateless Palestinians”, this is used in a general sense, and can potentially encompass, “Palestine refugees”, “Palestinian refugees”, “non-registered Palestinian refugees”, “non-ID refugees” and “Palestinian refugees from Syria”. Overlap between refugeehood and statelessness Since available sources on the situation of Palestinians in Lebanon often use the term “refugee”, it is important to recognise that statelessness and refugeehood can be intertwined, as Colin Yeo noted in his most recent work, Refugee Law. The author highlights the overlap: “[...] one of the major problems faced by a refugee is that they are de facto (effectively) stateless. A refugee is, by definition, outside their country of origin and has lost the protection of that country, leaving them without ‘the right 9 Francesca P. Albanese and Lex Takkenberg/Oxford University Press, Palestinian Refugees in International Law, May 2020, Chapter 3.3.3, Legal Status and Treatment, pp. 275-279 10 Badil Resource Center and European Network on Statelessness: “Palestinians and the Search for Protection as Refugees and Stateless Persons”, June 2022, p. 12. 11 Francesca P. Albanese and Lex Takkenberg/Oxford University Press, Palestinian Refugees in International Law, May 2020, Chapter 3.3.3, Legal Status and Treatment, pp. 275-279 12 Francesca P. Albanese and Lex Takkenberg/Oxford University Press, Palestinian Refugees in International Law, May 2020, Chapter 3.3.3, Legal Status and Treatment, pp. 275-279 13 Francesca P. Albanese and Lex Takkenberg/Oxford University Press, Palestinian Refugees in International Law, May 2020, Chapter 3.3.3, Legal Status and Treatment, pp. 275-279 14 Frontiers Ruwad Association, Invisible citizens, humiliation and a life in the shadows, a legal and policy study on statelessness in Lebanon, 2011, pp. 12-13. Explanatory note 8