• • • “normal place of residence” indicates that the refugees were residing in that territory for the indicated two-year period immediately preceding 15 May 1948;189 “who lost both home and means of livelihood” indicates that applicants should show loss of both to be considered genuine Palestine refugees. Those who lost their livelihoods, but not their homes were not allowed to register as refugees;190 The language “as a result of the 1948 conflict” is meant to include not only Palestinians who left after 15 May 1948, but also Palestinians who: a) left Palestine before 1948, i.e., after the United Nations Partition Resolution 181(II); b) who became refugees up until June 1952 when UNRWA completed its census; and c) were temporarily outside Palestine for some reason (e.g., for work, trade, study or medical treatment), and were unable to return to Palestine as a result of the 1948 conflict.191 UNRWA is the lead international agency mandated to assist Palestine refugees in five geographical areas of operations (Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip) with humanitarian assistance in the form of education, health and relief and social services.192 The Agency does not hold an explicit mandate to protect or promote durable solutions for Palestine refugees. In principle, primary responsibility for protection of the Palestinian refugees in the Agency’s area of operations lies with the Arab host governments in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, and with Israel as the Occupying Power in the occupied Palestinian territory.193 UNRWA was established in 1949 to complement the work of the UNCCP by providing relief to Palestinian refugees.194 Based on the expectation that the plight of the refugees would soon be resolved in accordance with the framework set forth in United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194(III), UNRWA was accorded a short-term mandate,195 which has been extended on a regular basis by the United Nations General Assembly due to the lack of durable solutions for Palestinian 189 Ibid. However, some Palestinians who were living on the borders of the part of Palestine that became Israel and lost their livelihood, but not their homes, because they used to own land or work in that area, were registered with the Agency because they were in need of assistance. These people are referred to as “Frontier villagers, Poor Gaza, Poor Jerusalem and compromise cases in Lebanon.” See Ibid., footnote 2. Today, these Palestinians are still registered with UNRWA, although they are not refugees. According to UNRWA, in 2003, the numbers of these Palestinians and their descendants were as follows: Frontier villagers (55,299), Jerusalem Poor (7,821), Gaza Poor (7,821) and compromise cases in Lebanon (2,179). 191 Ibid. This definition excludes Palestinians who emigrated and took up permanent residence in other countries prior to the start of the 1948 conflict. 192 UNRWA’s assistance activities are described in detail on UNRWA’s website and in UNRWA’s annual reports; see: http://www.unrwa.org. See also BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights, Survey, 2010-2012, vol. VII, chap. 2 and 3. 193 With regard to protection in the oPt, the Norwegian authorities, for example, had concluded that the Palestinian Authority is unable to protect Palestinians living in that area. Palestinians registered with UNRWA in the West Bank and Gaza Strip were therefore entitled to recognition of refugee status under Article 1(D). See BADIL, Closing Protection Gaps: A Handbook on Protection of Palestinian Refugees in States Signatories to the 1951 Refugee Convention, 206–207. Since 2009, however, Norwegian practice toward Palestinian refugees has changed (see Norway’s profile in Chapter Three, Section 4). 194 UN General Assembly, “Res. 302(IV),” para. 7. 195 All relief and works operations were to be terminated by the middle of 1951 (ibid., para. 6). 190 34 Handbook on Protection of Palestinian Refugees