Back to Contents 7. Child protection 7.1. Are child protection/social services available to Stateless Palestinians, who is it provided by and what assistance do they provide? In a series of written responses to questions sent by Asylos for this report, Dr. Jasmin Lilian Diab, Director of the Institute for Migration Studies at the Lebanese American University, directly commented on [Article 1 (Paragraph 1) of Law 422/2002] : “This law, though intended to cover the rights of all children from all nationalities, unfortunately does not extend to refugees as much as it outlines. This has been the case with Syrian and Palestinian children who largely fall outside the scope of the law in many cases. For children residing in camps, their largely “autonomous” nature, coupled with the inability of the Lebanese government to be actively present/engaged with them, renders it increasingly difficult for policies and legal frameworks to extend to stateless, migrant and refugee children. On a broader level, the overall culture of impunity in Lebanon, at all levels, renders it close to impossible to enforce the law, and has pushed many families to resort to negative coping mechanisms that the government strategically does not interfere with. i.e. sending children to work for instance, etc.” (Source: Dr. Jasmin Lilian Diab, written communication with Asylos, 6 October 2022) A collective of NGOs working with Palestinians in Lebanon made a joint submission to the Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review in 2020 in which they stated among others that: “12.2. Palestinian refugee children, especially those living the camps, do not benefit from the Juvenile Protection Law or the Law on Domestic Violence Article 1 (Paragraph 1) of Law 422/2002 on the protection of minors in contact with the law or those at risk deprives refugee children from its legal protection and jurisdiction to intervene for their protection due to the absence of due process inside the camps, where children are subjected to several forms of violations.” (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, p. 7) UNRWA describes its Children and Youth programme to eligible individuals as follows: “2. Social services Social services are extended through a network of more than l00 refugee administered community-based organizations (CBOs) which create social, cultural, economic and educational opportunities. UNRWA provides training and technical support to the CBOs to strengthen their institutional capacity and enhance refugee participation in the formulation and implementation of social services in their respective communities. Social services are available to the entire community. The four key social services sub-programmes are as follows: [...] 2.3 Children and youth programme: enhances the well-being of children and youth and promotes their participation in constructive activities consistent with the objectives of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).” (Source: UNRWA, “Consolidated Eligibility and Registration Instructions” , 1 January 2009, pp. 21-22) In its 2021 Annual Operational report, UNRWA reported that: “The preparatory dropout rates in Lebanon and Syria both increased. In Lebanon, national grade promotion criteria reverted to academic performance and, in the context of over a year of disrupted learning, led to an increase in the repetition rate and subsequently, to a higher dropout rate. Male students were also particularly impacted by the country’s deteriorating socio-economic situation, with high unemployment rates reducing motivation to learn whilst, at the same time, generating pressure to find paid employment in order to support household income.” (Source: UNRWA, “Annual Operational Report 2021” 27 October 2022, p. 39) 7. Child protection 71