Palestinian refugee camps were first established to accommodate

Palestinians Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenou ...

who were displaced by the 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight during the

1948 Palestine war The 1948 Palestine war was fought in the territory of what had been, at the start of the war, British-ruled Mandatory Palestine. During the war, the British withdrew from Palestine, Zionist forces conquered territory and established the Stat ...

. Camps were established by the

United Nations Relief and Works Agency United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

(UNRWA) in

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

and the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

. A subsequent wave of Palestinian refugees were created in the Naksa after the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

in 1967. There are 68 Palestinian refugee camps in total, 58 official and 10 unofficial,UNRWA Annual Operational report 2019 for the Reporting period 01 January – 31 December 2019
pages 168-169, "Infrastructure and Camp Improvement Statistics" ten of which were established after the Six-Day War while the others were established in 1948 to 1950s. Only a third of registered Palestinian refugees live within the boundaries of the refugee camps. Most have integrated socially and economically outside the camps. Many live in adjacent geographic areas. The number of registered Palestine refugees grew from 750,000 in 1950 to around 5 million in 2013.

History

File:Nahr al-Bared refugee camp 1952.webp, Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in Lebanon, 1952 File:Shatila - street view (3).jpg, Shatila refugee camp on the outskirts of

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

in 2019

Role of UNRWA

UNRWA's mandate is to provide assistance to Palestinian refugees, including access to its refugee camps. For this purpose, it defines Palestinian refugees as "persons whose normal place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948, and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict." UNRWA also extends assistance to the patrilineal descendants of such refugees, as well as their legally adopted children. ShufatCampJuly142023 05

For a camp to be recognized by UNRWA, there must be an agreement between the host government and UNRWA governing use of the camp. UNRWA does not itself run any camps, has no police powers or administrative role, but simply provides services to the camp. UNRWA recognizes facilities in 58 designated

refugee camp A refugee camp is a temporary Human settlement, settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for in ...

s in

, the

and the

, and it also provides facilities in other areas where large numbers of registered Palestine refugees live outside of recognized camps. UNRWA also provided relief to Jewish

displaced persons Forced displacement (also forced migration or forced relocation) is an involuntary or coerced movement of a person or people away from their home or home region. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR defines 'forced displaceme ...

inside

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

following the 1948 conflict until the Israeli government took over responsibility for them in 1952. Refugee camps developed from tented cities to rows of concrete blockhouses to urban ghettos indistinguishable from their surroundings (effectively becoming urban developments within existing cities or by themselves), that house around one third of all registered Palestine refugees. The Funding for UNRWA activities comes almost entirely from voluntary contributions from UN member states. UNRWA also receives some funding from the Regular Budget of the United Nations, which is used mostly for international staffing costs.

List of camps

The camps are divided between five regions: * Gaza Strip: The

has eight official and no unofficial refugee camps, and 1,221,110 registered refugees. * West Bank: The

has 19 official and four unofficial refugee camps, and 741,409 registered refugees. * Syria:

has nine official refugee camps and three unofficial refugee camps, and 499,189 registered refugees. * Lebanon: There are 12 official refugee and no unofficial camps in

, and 448,599 registered refugees. * Jordan: There are 10 official and three unofficial refugee camps in

, and 2,034,641 registered refugees.

Population statistics

The evolution of Palestinian refugee population is shown below:Report of the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, 1 July 2003-30 June 2004, Supplement No. 13 (A/59/13)
Table 2: Distribution of registered population (as at 30 June 2004)Ḥanafī, Sār�
"Palestinian Refugee Camps in the Arab East: Governmentalities in Search of Legitimacy."
(2010), page 6 The number of Palestinian refugees living within the UNWRA registered area of operations is shown below, both those living in camps and those living outside camps:Report of the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, 1 July 2003-30 June 2004, Supplement No. 13 (A/59/13)
Table 3: Number and distribution of special hardship cases (as at 30 June 2004) The table below shows the population of registered refugees, other registered people, and refugees residing in camps, in 2018. UNRWA's definition of Other Registered Persons refer to "those who, at the time of original registration did not satisfy all of UNRWA's Palestine refugee criteria, but who were determined to have suffered significant loss and/or hardship for reasons related to the 1948 conflict in Palestine; they also include persons who belong to the families of other registered persons."Annual Operational Report 2019
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References

Bibliography

External links

Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon

Palestinian Refugees in Syria

Palestinian Refugees in Jordan

As rebuilding begins at Lebanon's nahr al bared, displaced refugees are eager to return
William Wheeler and Don Duncan, ''World Politics Review,'' 11 March 2008
UN refugee agency unveils Palestinian archive

Maps

Fields of operation, 2014 map by UNRWA

Camps in Lebanon

Camps in the Palestinian territories
{{Nakbaend * Forced migration in Asia Statelessness Temporary populated places