Back to Contents • The lack of legal residency means that, particularly in the South of Lebanon where the Lebanese Army controls entry and exit to camps, PRS often do not leave the camps in which they are living nor enter them if they live outside, restricting their movement out of fear of arrest, detention and deportation, which poses challenges to accessing basic services and justice functions. A survey conducted during the first half of 2020 indicated that 34 per cent of PRS in Lebanon do not hold valid residency documents. Out of this group, 79 per cent reported that their mobility was constrained. • On 24 April 2019, a series of decisions announced by the High Defence Council in Lebanon resulted in stricter enforcement of national laws and the promulgation of a new regulation affecting refugees. The decision to deport Syrians who entered the country illegally after 24 April 2019, coupled with departure orders issued to Syrians and PRS without valid residency who entered before that date, has resulted in an increased fear of deportation among PRS. UNRWA recorded the first cases of PRS deportations, including of two women and four minors, in late 2019 and early 2020. However, deportations were also put on hold due to COVID-19 related border closures. • In recent years, UNRWA has also recorded a number of spontaneous returns by PRS families and individuals to Syria. In 2019, UNRWA recorded the return to habitual residence of 2240 PRS individuals. The numbers for 2020 were significantly lower, including due to COVID-19 containment measures.” The same source also addressed the condition of non-ID Palestinians in Lebanon: “There are an estimated 4,000 Non-ID Palestinians in Lebanon. These are Palestinians who began to arrive in Lebanon in the 1960s and do not hold formal valid identification documents recognized by the Government of Lebanon (GoL). They are not registered as Palestine refugees with UNRWA in Lebanon and are not recognized by the GoL as they do not have valid legal status in the country. Without documentation and legal status in Lebanon, Non-ID Palestinians face restrictions on movement, risk detention and face severe obstacles in completing civil registration procedures. This situation has acute humanitarian consequences, in particular limiting access to public services from Lebanese educational and medical services, bank accounts and access to justice and formal employment. They are also denied the possibility to travel abroad. […]”. (Source: UNRWA: “Protection brief: Palestine refugees living in Lebanon”, September 2020, p. 2) The numerous statuses of Palestinians in Lebanon were covered in the widely acclaimed book that legal scholars Dr. Francesca Albanese (currently the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory) and Prof. Lex Takkenberg published in 2020: “Registered Palestine refugees Most Palestinians in Lebanon are ‘1948 refugees’, including descendants, and are registered as ‘Palestine refugees’ with UNRWA. As indicated earlier, out of almost half a million, less than half remain in Lebanon. They are also registered with DPRA [Directorate of Political Affairs and Refugees] and hold a DPRA-issued ‘Identification Card for Palestine Refugee’, which officially confirms their legal residence in Lebanon. While registration gives Palestine refugees legal residence, a certain freedom of movement within Lebanon and eligibility for a TDPR [Travel Documents for Palestinian Refugees] with a validity of up to five years, in practice, they remain foreigners in the country. As foreigners, they experience restrictions, embedded in law and practice, in many areas of life, including with respect to employment, social security, property ownership, and mobility both within (in and out of the camps) and outside the country, as well as access to public services such as housing, education, (p.214) and health and other rights reserved for Lebanese citizens. Palestine refugees are also considered a ‘special category of foreigners’ not benefitting from specific refugee rights nor being allowed to naturalise, and subject to entry and exit controls that are tightened during periods of insecurity.” […] ‘Non-Registered’ Palestinian refugees Approximately 35,000 refugees from Mandate Palestine and their descendants (i.e. ‘1948 refugees’), are not registered with UNRWA in Lebanon. They are often referred to as ‘NR’.307 Their lack of registration with UNRWA has various causes: they may have not been in need of humanitarian assistance in 1948, and hence not met UNRWA’s 1. History of Palestinians's exile to Lebanon resulting in various legal statuses for Palestinians 19