Back to Contents In June 2020 the Danish Immigration Service reported that: “235. Finally, in Lebanon, while UNRWA is able to provide services inside Palestinian camps (for the most part, except when civil war flares between factions), the agency’s inability to leverage on Lebanese government’s systems hinders its service delivery. All the more, Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, because of their status and general conditions, are often exposed to abuse and mistreatment by Lebanese authority without possibility to meaningful/ systematic access to legal aid and justice. About 3,500 Palestinian refugees are also undocumented (so called ‘non-IDs’), therefore at continuous risk of arrest and detention because they are considered illegally present in the country. How can UNRWA deliver its mandate effectively to this highly at risk population, when the general environment itself is not conducive?” (Source: Danish Immigration Service, “Palestinian Refugees Access to registration and UNRWA services, documents, and entry to Jordan” June 2020, pp. 75-76) In the internationally recognised book they published in 2020, legal scholars Dr. Francesca Albanese [currently Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory] and Prof Lex Takkenberg wrote: “Access to justice is also reportedly curtailed for Palestinians in Lebanon, especially those living in camps. They are vulnerable to arbitrary arrest and detention by both state security forces and Palestinian factions, the latter of which operate their own justice system and detention facilities in the refugee camps. The situation of Palestinians in Lebanon has further deteriorated in connection with Lebanon’s weakening socio-economic situation and the prolonged Syria crisis. Discriminatory laws and policies prevent addressing the poverty that traps two-thirds of this group.” (Source: “Francesca P. Albanese and Lex Takkenberg/Oxford University Press, Palestinian Refugees in International Law”, May 2020, Chapter 3.3.3, Legal Status and Treatment, p. 277) 12.3. Are stateless Palestinians particularly exposed to violence by state actors? The Lebanese Newspaper L’Orient Le Jour published this article on the Lebanese Army conducting a raid in Nahr al-Bared camp: “BEIRUT — The Lebanese Army has been conducting a series of raids since dawn in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared, in northern Lebanon, in search of weapons and suspects, an army spokesman told L’Orient-Le Jour Monday morning, without specifying what the suspects were wanted for. [...] According to information from our correspondent in the North, residents of the camp burned tires at the southern and eastern entrances as well as inside the camp and blocked roads to protest against the searches carried out by the troops. Reacting to these developments, Palestinian factions and committees in North Lebanon condemned the army raids and announced in a joint statement a general strike in the camp. They also denounced «the military parade of planes, ships and armored vehicles of the army that frighten women, children and the elderly.» According to our correspondent, the army flew helicopters over the camp. In a statement issued in the afternoon, the army said that units supported by the navy and the air force searched the Nahr al-Bared camp and arrested «nine suspects who are the subject of several arrest warrants for drug trafficking, shooting and murder.» [...]” As has been the practice for decades, especially since the 1969 Cairo agreement, the Lebanese Army does not enter the camps and leaves the Palestinian factions to provide their own security. However, there was an exception to this in 2007, when the army launched its assault in the Nahr al-Bared camp against armed militants.” (Source: L’Orient Today, “Army conducts raid in Nahr al-Bared camp, residents demonstrate in response”, 25 October 2022) 12. State attitudes, discrimination by state authorities and availability of state protection 122