Leah Morrison, MA student in Development and Emergency Practice at Oxford Brookes University, is an advocate for refugee rights. She is currently writing her dissertation on discriminatory treatment towards Palestinians fleeing the Syrian conflict.
Among those who have fled the conflict in Syria are tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees who have been uprooted once again. Their statelessness makes Palestinians doubly vulnerable to the horrors that have characterised the situation in Syria.
While the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) retains the core responsibility for Palestinian refugees in host states, the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is mandated to protect Syrian refugees elsewhere. The difference in the treatment of Syrian refugees and Palestinians from Syria is evidence of new levels of discrimination against Palestinian refugees.
Although the border to Jordan remains partially open to Syrian refugees, it has been closed to Palestinian refugees from Syria since August 2012. The Palestinian refugees admitted before the closing of the border were sent to the Cyber City, an industrial complex near Ramtha, and are only permitted to leave if they are returning to Syria. The government of Jordan fears that an influx of Palestinian refugees may tilt the demographic balance in Jordan even more towards the Palestinians, who already comprise the majority of the population. Samih Maaytah, Jordanian government spokesman, noted that the matter of Palestinian refugees from Syria is ‘purely political, before discussing any humanitarian aspect.’
Similarly, Lebanon has allowed free entry to Syrian nationals. Palestinians from Syria, on the other hand, are only free to enter if they have relatives residing in the country. Syrians are free to work, stay for six months, and renew their work permits without cost in Lebanon. Palestinians from Syria must pay 17 USD for a permit, which must be renewed every three months even though there are no public services for Palestinians and their ability to work is extremely limited.
Space has been allocated for Syrian refugees, while Palestinians fleeing the Syrian conflict have been forced to reside in the already overcrowded Palestinian camp of Burj al-Barajneh in south Beirut, home to tens of thousands packed into a slum measuring one square kilometer. There is a widespread fear among the Lebanese that granting Palestinians more rights would lead to the disruption of the country’s balanced system of sectarian politics.
In Egypt, the situation is even worse. UNRWA is mandated to assist Palestinians refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Egypt has not been a ‘host country’ for UNRWA for decades; therefore Palestinians should be protected by the mandate of UNHCR. Proposals made over the past several months for the recognition of Palestinian refugees under the ambit of UNHCR’s mandate have been rejected by the government of Egypt. It will not permit UNHCR to take this responsibility. While Syrians are being given food through ATM cards provided by the World Food Programme, the Palestinians from Syria are not permitted to receive assistance.
Turkey remains the only host country in the region that has not discriminated against Palestinians from Syria.