Back to Contents In its Protection Monitoring Report for the 2nd quarter of the year 2022, UNRWA reported that: weeks compared to one to two weeks previously. As among the Lebanese community, waiting times to obtain travel documents increased significantly.     “The closure of government offices as a result of the ongoing public sector strike impacted the ability of both Palestinians and Lebanese to register civil events and obtain civil documentation, driving licences and passports in Q2. Palestinian refugees reported their frustration at the unpredictability of government service provision after paying for transport only to find offices unexpectedly closed. In addition, office closures hampered PRS in obtaining or renewing residency, thus exacerbating the challenges they face in moving freely, particularly outside the camps. In the Beirut area, focal points reported that the GSO are also repeatedly delaying PRS residency renewals, impacting freedom of movement and ability to register marriages. (p. 8)” (Source: UNRWA, “UNRWA Protection Monitoring Report – Quarter 2 (Q2) 2022”, 26 August 2022)41 In its Protection Monitoring Report for the 1st quarter of the year 2022, UNRWA reported that:    “Access to civil registration processes reportedly remained limited for PRS and non-IDs, and difficulties registering PRL children’s births after more than a year, were highlighted in Central Lebanon Area [...] Difficulties in receiving legal documents, the high cost of legal aid, and practical obstacles to accessing available services were also highlighted. [...] As among the Lebanese community, waiting times to obtain travel documents increased significantly. Focal points highlighted that lack of residency continued to be a problem for the increasing number of PRS who entered Lebanon irregularly, as well as those who entered regularly but faced other practical obstacles to obtaining residency. In addition, those who did hold residency were reportedly often finding themselves unable to renew it due to associated costs and the irregular opening hours of the GSO offices. Some PRS in Saida were said to be afraid of approaching GSO to renew their papers after hearing of cases of people issued with departure orders while doing so. ” (Source: UNRWA, “UNRWA Protection Monitoring Report – Quarter 1 (Q1) 2022”, 1 July 2022) In its Protection Monitoring Report for the last quarter of the year 2021, UNRWA also reported that: “According to focal points, the three main issues people face in accessing civil registration remained largely the same through the year: the cost of the process, the lack of required documents, and some refugees’ lack of residency. Lacking the required documents was particularly reported Tyre. The two main groups who find it most difficult to access civil registration were PRS and Non-ID. Non-IDs were especially mentioned in Saida while PRS were mentioned more in Beqaa. In CLA focal points linked the lack of legal residency to not be able to move freely in the camps. In Saida focal points noted it was taking more time than before to issue new passports or civil reports for PRL. (p. 8)” (Source: UNRWA, “UNRWA Protection Monitoring Report – Quarter Four 2021”, 6 April 2022) In March 2022, UNICEF Lebanon published estimates of undocumented children among Palestinian refugees: “According to UNICEF’s Baseline Study (2016), UNRWA’s registration of children under five years of age in the PRL [Palestinian refugees in Lebanon] cohort was at 99.5 per cent. For PRS [Palestinian refugees from Syria in Lebanon], almost 2,900 new births were recorded by UNRWA between 2011 and 2018. By conservative estimation, at least one third of parents were unable to finalise the birth registration process in Lebanon due to its costs or lack of a valid legal status or requisite documentation. In fact, more than one third of parents had already registered their newborn children in Syria, with some doing so to avoid the burdensome process in Lebanon. UNRWA has been monitoring the implementation of new circulars to minimise barriers to marriage and birth registration of Palestinian families and children in Lebanon, which would further increase the risk of “undocumented” Palestine refugees, who would therefore be barred from accessing education services, employment opportunities and even relocation. [...] Existing undocumented Palestinian children, adolescents and young people already face severe restrictions on their rights to freedom of movement and access to services; are at higher risk of being arrested and detained 41 For the purposes of this report, even though this excerpt is not within the research period, it was included since it is pertinent. 4. Legal and policy frameworks and their implementation 43