Introduction Since the first edition of the BADIL Handbook on Protection of Palestinian Refugees in States Signatories to the 1951 Refugee Convention, published in August 2005, much has changed for Palestinians in the Arab world and in the diaspora beyond the Arab states. Unfortunately, most of the changes have been negative as, sixty-six years after the 1947-49 Nakba, expulsion, dispossession and persecution of Palestinians both from their homeland in today’s Israel/Palestine by the Israeli state and from their states of refuge continues until today. The promise of the Arab Spring, both for citizens of the states involved and for Palestinian refugees has ushered in a new era of repression of rights and freedoms, and has had particularly negative consequences for the Palestinians in those countries.1 The Syrian civil war has brought about particularly violent repression of Palestinian refugees-- the siege and starvation of the refugees in Yarmouk Camp is only one example—in the one Arab state in which Palestinians historically received the best treatment and protection in the region.2 Palestinians fleeing the violence in Syria face barriers that Syrian nationals do not encounter in seeking refuge in neighboring states: Jordan and Lebanon have officially closed their borders to them and refuse to grant them even temporary legal status; Egypt, which has also closed its doors to Palestinians from Syria, recognizes neither UNRWA nor UNHCR mandates towards them, and has been detaining, deporting, and forcing Palestinian refugees from Syria into risky coping mechanisms.3 The phenomenon of Palestinians ex-Syria who have fallen prey to smuggling rings that sell them ‘passage’ on unsafe boats has led to many deaths at sea, including women and children, and is a direct result of Egypt’s refusal to recognize them as refugees and grant them refugee protection.4 Meanwhile, in their country of origin, an increasingly right-wing Israeli government 1 2 3 4 For discussions on the impact of the Arab Spring in Egypt on Palestinians, see Abdalhadi Alijla, “Why Palestinians Are Aggrieved by the Arab Spring,” Your Middle East, January 10, 2014, http://www. yourmiddleeast.com/opinion/why-palestinians-are-aggrieved-by-the-arab-spring_20733; on the impact on Palestinian refugees fleeing Syria’s conflict, see Rima Rassi, “Struggling to Cope: The Syrian Refugee Crisis and Its Impact on Lebanon,” in Understanding Today’s Middle East: Peoples & Places of the Arab Spring, by Denis Sullivan and Sarah Tobin, 2014, 58–66, http://www.bu.edu/smscinst/ files/2014/09/WEBPUBBCARS_UnderstandingTodaysMiddleEast_ArabSpring_Sept2014.pdf. UN News Centre, “Syria: Besieged Palestinians in Refugee Camp ‘Will Likely Go Hungry,’ UN Agency Warns,” July 6, 2014, http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=48209#.VJCvEIrF_dc; Harriet Sherwood, “Queue for Food in Syria’s Yarmouk Camp Shows Desperation of Refugees,” The Guardian, February 26, 2014, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/26/queue-foodsyria-yarmouk-camp-desperation-refugees. For a detailed discussion on the particular legal status of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan, see Susan M. Akram et al., Protecting Syrian Refugees: Laws, Policies, and Global Responsibility Sharing (International Human Rights Clinic - Boston University School of Law, July 2014), http://www.bu.edu/law/central/jd/programs/clinics/international-human-rights/ documents/FINALFullReport.pdf. See, e.g., Renee Lewis, “Palestinian Migrants Fleeing Gaza Strip Drown in Mediterranean Sea,” Al Jazeera America, September 14, 2014, http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/9/14/gazamigrants-boat.html; Céline Lebrun, “Death at Sea: The via Dolorosa of Palestinian Refugees,” Mada Masr, October 31, 2013, http://www.madamasr.com/opinion/politics/death-sea-dolorosapalestinian-refugees. xiii