Daily Alert Archives

How Many Palestinian Refugees Are Actually Refugees?

(Foreign Policy) Jonathan Schanzer - Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) is trying to get a handle on the real number of Palestinian refugees in the Middle East - a move that could result in a change of status for millions of Palestinians. His proposed language for the 2013 foreign appropriations bill would require the U.S. government to confirm just how many Palestinians currently served by the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) are actually refugees. It would challenge the status of the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of Palestinian refugees - a great many of whom were never personally displaced in the 1948 and 1967 Arab-Israeli wars. By UNRWA's own count, the number of Palestinians who describe themselves as refugees has skyrocketed from 750,000 in 1950 to 5 million today. The number of Palestinians serviced by UNRWA who are true refugees from wars past is believed to be closer to 30,000 people. If the Kirk amendment is adopted, this new tally would then become the focus of America's assistance to UNRWA for refugee issues. Proponents do not call for a full cutoff to the descendants and will seek to ensure that UNRWA services keep flowing to those who are needy. The U.S. would simply not view them as refugees - just people living in the West Bank or Gaza and below the poverty line. The writer is vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
2012-05-25 00:00:00
Full Article