Back to Contents UNRWA wrote about the right to adequate housing: “Around 45 per cent of Palestine refugees reside in the 12 official Palestine refugee camps. The camps are overcrowded and are affected by substandard infrastructure, sanitation and housing conditions. In addition, camp inhabitants have limited opportunities to improve their housing conditions, and the movement of building materials into the camps requires the authorization of the Lebanese authorities. The remaining Palestine refugees reside in gatherings or cities in Lebanon.” UNRWA noted that: “Since the adoption of Law 296/2001, Palestine refugees are prevented from legally acquiring and transferring immovable property in Lebanon. This has led to insecurity of tenure as many have been forced into informal rental arrangements and have been deprived of the benefits of property ownership. As a result of the ongoing economic crisis, Palestine refugees are increasingly at risk of evictions. Furthermore, the crowded nature of the Palestine refugee camps, and the often high number of household members inside the home, has made it especially difficult to adhere to COVID-19 related social distancing measures and to isolate, while further exacerbating any family conflict, psychosocial distress and violence in the home.” (Source: UNRWA: “Protection brief: Palestine refugees living in Lebanon”, September 2020, p. 2) A collective of NGOs working in Lebanon made a joint submission to the Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review in 2020 in which they stated that: “49. As a result of the lack of legal status and records, stateless persons […] cannot own property and register their homes and cars – if they can afford having any given their lack of economic rights – under the names of relatives or friends who have a nationality, which may result in conflicts ad [sic] dependancy. They cannot inherit property.” (Source: The Collective for Research & Training on Development- Action, The Nationality Campaign, Ruwad alHoukouk Frontiers Rights et al, “Joint Submission to the Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review”, July 2020, p. 11) Another collective of NGOs working with Palestinians in Lebanon made a joint submission to the UPR in 2020 in which they noted amongst other issues that: “10. Right to Property Palestinian refugees in Lebanon were excluded from the right to own real estate by law 296/2001, under the pretext that they do not hold a «nationality issued by a recognized state» and the rejection of implantation. 10.1. The expropriation of Palestinian refugees who bought property prior to 2001 but had not completed registration procedures at the relevant departments. Property purchased and paid for prior to the adoption of Law 296/2001 (which is not retroactive) and whose new owners had not completed registration procedures before that date is not being registered in official real estate departments due to the deliberate wrongful interpretation of the law. Other arbitrary procedures at real estate departments are preventing Palestinian refugees from transferring their registered property through the enforcement of inheritance laws by religious courts, although Law 296/2001 did not prevent this. This forces some injured parties to seek the courts, incurring additional financial burdens. It should also be noted that the Lebanese courts have stopped looking into such cases since 2011. 10.2 Constraints in real estate registration procedures for foreigners married to Palestinian refugees One of the requirements for registering real estate to a foreigner in Lebanon is obtaining a certificate of «denial of ownership,» a document that includes the household as a unit (husband, wife, and minor children). If one of the spouses is found to be Palestinian, the registration application is denied.” (Source: Najdeh Association, Development Action Without Borders (Naba’a), Palestinian Human Rights Organization (PHRO) et al, “UPR 2020: Palestinian Refugee Rights in Lebanon”, July 2020, pp. 5-6) 10. Access to land, housing and shelter 112