Back to Contents (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. 276) 8.3. Are there reports/evidence of additional practical challenges for certain groups of stateless Palestinian children and young people more than others? For example, on the basis of gender, class, religion or disability? In its series of country reports for 2021, the US Department of State wrote about Lebanon: “[…]Palestinian refugees who fled Syria for the country since 2011 received limited basic support from UNRWA, including food aid, cash assistance, and winter assistance, such as cash to purchase fuel for heating. Authorities permitted children of PRS to enrol in UNRWA schools and access UNRWA health clinics.” (Source: US Department of State (USDOS) “2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Lebanon”, Section 2. Respect for Civil Liberties, March 2022, p. 29) AlAraby,an international Arabic newspaper and website, published testimonies by Palestinian refugees on the impact of their lack of documentation for their children’s access to education: “Mohammad Atiya says, whose father comes from Gaza, and was born in Lebanon in 1983 without the Lebanese state providing him with official documentation, and who works currently as a taxi driver and lives in Ain El Helweh Refugee Camp in Saida (south), to The New Araby (Al-Araby Al-Jadeed) : “I was enrolled in school using the power of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) that my father belonged to. But today, my children do not have official documentation that would enable them to be enrolled in school, and I personally do not belong to any Palestinian political party that I could benefit from its power, but with the pressure of humanitarian mercy, I was able to enrol my children in a governmental school in Lebanon, where they were registered as students under consideration because we do not have any documentation to prove our nationality.” [In-house translation. The author is an Arabic native speaker] ORIGINAL TRANSLATION: ‫ ويعمل حالياً سائق سيارة أجرة ويقيم يف‬،‫ من دون أن متنحه الدولة اللبنانية وثائق رسمية‬1983 ‫ وولد يف لبنان عام‬،‫ الذي يتحدر والده من غزة‬،‫يقول محمد عطية‬ .‫ "تعلمت يف املدرسة بقوة نفوذ منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية التي انتمى والدي إليها‬:"‫ لـ"العريب الجديد‬،)‫مخيم عني الحلوة لالجئني الفلسطينيني يف مدينة صيدا (جنوب‬ ‫ لكنني استطعت تحت ضغط الرحمة‬،‫ وال أنتسب شخصياً إىل أي فصيل فلسطيني لإلفادة من نفوذه‬،‫أما اليوم فال ميلك أوالدي وثائق رسمية تسمح بالتحاقهم مبدارس‬ ."‫ حيث جرى تسجيلهم يف خانة التالميذ قيد الدرس ألننا ال منلك أوراقاً تثبت جنسيتنا‬،‫اإلنسانية أن أدخل أوالدي ملدرسة حكومية يف لبنان‬ (Source: AlAraby “Palestinians without IDs in Lebanon”, January 13, 2022) In a public letter to the UNHCR published by UNRWA in June 2021, the relief agency stated that: “While in principle Palestine refugees have equal access to public education in Lebanon, in practice they only do so where there is space in the relevant public school, with priority given to Lebanese citizens. UNRWA aims to support the inclusion and accessibility of education for all Palestine refugee children in UNRWA primary and secondary schools as part of its Inclusive Education Policy. That policy extends to children with disabilities. However, the practical constraints on funding – described above – mean that this is not always possible. For example, UNRWA is not in a position to host multidisciplinary teams at schools, so therapists are not available for daily rehabilitation sessions (such as physiotherapy, speech, and language therapy) that children with some severe disabilities such as movement disorders, or severe health needs, require. UNRWA is also unable to cover the costs of a shadow teacher to support the movement of children who need it. The result is that UNRWA provides educational support, to the extent that it is able, but it is not able to provide educational support to all disabled children in its fields of operation.” (Source: UNRWA, “Letter from UNRWA to UNHCR in the case of NB and AB v. SSHD before the Court of Justice of the European Union (Case C-349/20).”, 21 June 2021, p. 5) 8. Access to education for children 81