3.3. Separate Protection Framework for Palestinian Refugees: Content and Structure In addition to this, the travaux préparatoires of the Refugee Convention show that the Arab delegations insisted on the insertion of a clause (Article 1D) that was intended to complement the provision contained in the UNHCR Statute. As a result, Article 1D establishes that: “This Convention shall not apply to persons who are at present receiving from organs or agencies of the United Nations other than the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees protection or assistance. When such protection or assistance has ceased for any reason, without the position of such persons being definitively settled in accordance with the relevant resolutions adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations, these persons shall ipso facto be entitled to the benefits of this Convention”.351 In light of the drafting history, and given the purpose that this provision was intended to fulfill, the meaning of the word “or” is that those refugees who are not receiving either protection or assistance are to be covered by the alternative protection scheme of the Refugee Convention. The end of effective protection is the crucial event that triggers the applicability of the inclusion clause. For Palestinian refugees and IDPs, that effective protection ended with the cessation of the UNCCP’s protection activities, as explained in section 3.4.1 below. Given that UNRWA’s mandate was to ensure assistance, and the UNCCP’s mandate was to ensure protection, it follows that the function of Article 1D was to ensure that if for some reason either of these agencies failed to exercise its role before a final resolution of the refugee situation, that agency’s function was to be transferred to the UNHCR, and the Refugee Convention would fully and immediately apply without preconditions to the Palestinian refugees.352 350 UNHCR Statute (n 327), art 7. Refugee Convention (n 330), art 1D. 352 BADIL, Closing Protection Gaps (n 3), 73; Susan Akram, ‘Reinterpreting Palestinian Refugee Rights Under International Law, and a Framework for Durable Solutions’ (2000) 1 BADIL Brief, 4 <https://badil.org/phocadownloadpap/ Badil_docs/bulletins-and-briefs/Brief-No.1.pdf> accessed 3 October 2022>. 351 75 Chapter “The competence of the High Commissioner […] shall not extend to a person […] who continues to receive from other organs or agencies of the UN protection or assistance”.350 3 A main aspect of the separate protection regime for Palestinian refugees is that they are excluded from the UN’s ‘universal’ scheme for international protection that was elaborated upon above. This is largely due to the position advocated for by Arab states during the drafting of the Refugee Convention to keep Palestinian refugees under the responsibility of special UN agencies (UNCCP and UNRWA). Consequently, the UNHCR Statute was amended with Article 7(c) stipulating that: