Palestinian refugees from Syria and their fate in Europe

Anne Irfan

The European response to the Syrian refugee crisis has dominated much of the continent’s recent political discourse. Yet this has included almost no discussion of the estimated 100,000 Palestinians who have fled Syria since the conflict began. Prior to 2011, 560,000 Palestinians were registered as residing in Syria without citizenship.[1] They were largely the descendants of the generation that had fled Palestine in 1948, and over the decades they had become well-integrated into Syrian society. Despite not holding citizenship, they enjoyed many of the same rights as their Syrian neighbours, and were significantly better-off than their counterparts next door in Lebanon.[2] Since 2011 this situation has been turned on its head – and the Palestinians’ lack of Syrian citizenship has become pivotal to their fate.
 
The plight of Palestinian refugees from Syria has become especially pertinent in Europe over the last two years. While the majority of refugees from Syria have sought shelter in neighbouring countries,[3] Jordan and Lebanon closed their doors to Palestinians in January 2013 and May 2014 respectively.[4] As a result, increasing numbers of Syrian-born Palestinians have looked to Europe as an alternative place of refuge.[5] UNRWA, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees, estimates that at least 60,000 Palestinians from Syria have now fled the Levant, and that a significant number of these have gone to Europe.[6] The difficulties Palestinians face in acquiring European visas mean that many have done so clandestinely by sea, risking arrest, detention, exploitation and even death. On occasion, Palestinian refugees from Syria have been found on stranded boats and subsequently detained.[7]
 
Despite this, very few Europeans are aware of the existence of Palestinian refugees from Syria, or of the distinctive nature of their plight. Accordingly, European policies towards them are characterised by confusion and inconsistency. The standard European framework, known as the Common European Asylum System (CEAS), is rarely applied consistently for anyone, and certainly not when it comes to the Palestinians.[8] Palestinian refugees from Syria might be recorded as ‘stateless’, ‘unknown nationality’, ‘Palestinian’ or ‘Syrian’, depending on exactly when and where they register.[9] As a result, there is only limited data available about the situation of Palestinian refugees from Syria in Europe today, and it is unknown how many have been granted asylum. This in turn impedes a full assessment of the problems facing them, and has created more uncertainty for those desperately seeking refuge.
 
What is known is that Palestinian refugees are even more disadvantaged than their Syrian counterparts. The little data that is available shows that Palestinians are less likely to be granted asylum in Europe than other refugees from Syria, with a higher proportion of their applications remaining pending over a long period.[10] European government policy on Palestinian refugees is often opaque; the UK Home Office, for example, has refused to clarify whether they are included in its Syrian resettlement plan.[11]
 
Even when governments are transparent about their policy positions, this does not always guarantee clarity in practice. Both the German and Swedish governments have stated that they treat Syrian-born Palestinians on the same basis as refugees with Syrian citizenship.[12] Yet in practice there can be exceptions to this. While Sweden is aligned with most other EU states in not forcibly returning refugees to Syria,[13] its policy has a loophole whereby Palestinians from Syria who had formerly lived in Iraq can be returned to the latter.[14]
 
Similarly, the Greek government’s 2013 Order suspending the expulsion of Syrians does not apply to non-Syrian-nationals previously resident there. There have also been reports of Palestinian refugees from Syria being turned back at the Bulgarian border with Turkey, and their asylum applications being ignored.[15] Even in Germany, there are sometimes discrepancies at the local level. If officials are unaware of the status of Syrian-born Palestinians, there may be disparities in how they are classified even within the same country, with some registered as Syrian and others are given an indeterminate status.[16]
 
The question remains of why Palestinians are treated so differentially. Some of this is down to their statelessness. As Palestinians do not hold Syrian passports, it can be harder for host states to verify that they are refugees fleeing the Syrian war, and are therefore eligible for resettlement schemes. In some cases, there are concerns that their statelessness makes them more likely to become ‘long-term’ refugees, with no obvious home to return to. Collected testimonies recall Palestinians being detained for unusually long periods in Greece because there is no country to deport them to.[17]
 
However, the Palestinians’ statelessness is by no means the only reason for their differential treatment. Palestinian refugees are also rendered particularly disadvantaged by their unique international classification. Since 1950, they have received services from the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA). They have consequently been excluded from the mandate of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), on the grounds that they are covered by another UN body.[18] As a result, they are ineligible for potentially crucial services from UNHCR, including travel documents and formal verification of their status. While UNHCR has intervened to assist Palestinian refugees in certain situations, such interventions have taken place on an ad hoc basis. Officially speaking, the Palestinians lack the formal eligibility for UNHCR services that all other refugees can claim.
 
The repercussions of this distinction are significant. UNRWA has a much more limited scope than UNHCR. It registers Palestinian refugees in the Middle East and provides them with emergency relief and long-term health and education services. Yet unlike UNHCR, UNRWA is not mandated to provide protection or to pursue political solutions to the refugees’ plight. As a result, Palestinian refugees suffer from a ‘protection gap’, whereby they are the only group of people in the world who are not provided with protection by the UN – and are therefore uniquely vulnerable.[19]
 
This state of affairs has had a host of negative consequences for Palestinians fleeing Syria today. It means that they lack formal protection in a situation where they desperately need it. Their combination of statelessness and ineligibility for UNHCR services means that Palestinian refugees are too often falling through the gaps – especially in Europe, where UNRWA does not operate. Moreover, any European resettlement plan that is coordinated with UNHCR automatically excludes Palestinian refugees. In September 2015, for instance, the then UK Prime Minister David Cameron announced that the UK would accept 20,000 Syrian refugees over a five-year period. As these 20,000 refugees will be identified through UNHCR, Palestinians will be automatically excluded.[20]
 
The problems facing Palestinian refugees from Syria are significant and in several ways exceptional. Even otherwise laudable European responses to the Syrian crisis have often failed to take account of the complex Palestinian plight. Yet its complexity makes it imperative that the Palestinians are included in refugee response plans from the beginning, so as to avoid the confusion and inconsistencies that have come to dominate the situation as it currently stands.
 

Notes: 
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[1] UNRWA, Syria Regional Crisis: Emergency Appeal 2016. Retrieved from http://www.unrwa.org/sites/default/files/2016_syria_emergency_appeal.pdf

[2] Qandil, M. (2012). The Syrian Revolution and the Palestinian Refugees in Syria: Realities and Risks. Al Jazeera Centre for Studies. Retrieved from http://studies.aljazeera.net/mritems/Documents/2012/5/2/201252132022536734The%20Syrian%20Rev olution%20and%20Palestinian%20Refugees%20in%20Syria.pdf

[3] Orchard, C. & Miller, A. (September 2014). Forced Migration Policy Briefing 10: Protection in Europe for Refugees from Syria. Oxford Refugee Studies Centre. Retrieved from
https://www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/files/publications/policy-briefing-series/pb10-protection-europe-refugees-syria-2014.pdf

[4] Human Rights Watch. (2014). Jordan: Palestinians Escaping Syria Turned Away. Retrieved from https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/08/07/jordan-palestinians-escaping-syria-turned-away
Amnesty International. (2014). Families ripped apart as Palestinian refugees from Syria denied entry to Lebanon. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2014/07/families-ripped-apart-palestinian-refugees- syria-denied-entry-lebanon/

[5] Abu Moghli, M., Bitarie, N. & Gabiam, N. (October 2015). Palestinian Refugees from Syria: Stranded on the Margins of Law. Retrieved from https://al-shabaka.org/briefs/palestinian-refugees-from-syria-stranded-on-the-margins-of-law/

[6] Bolongar, K. (March 2016). Palestinian Syrians: Twice refugees. Retrieved from http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/03/palestinian-syrians-refugees-160321055107834.html

[7] Morrison, L. (2015). Egypt: A Desperate Refuge for Palestinians Fleeing the Syrian Conflict. Al Majdal, 57, 19-23.

[8] On CEAS see: https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/sites/homeaffairs/files/what-we-do/policies/european-agenda-migration/background-information/docs/20160713/factsheet_the_common_european_asylum_system_en.pdf

[9] UNHCR (June 2014). Syrian Refugees in Europe: What Europe Can Do to Ensure Protection and Solidarity. Retrieved from: http://www.refworld.org/docid/53b69f574.html

[10] Orchard, C. & Miller, A. (September 2014). Forced Migration Policy Briefing 10: Protection in Europe for Refugees from Syria. Oxford Refugee Studies Centre. Retrieved from
https://www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/files/publications/policy-briefing-series/pb10-protection-europe-refugees-syria-2014.pdf

[11] Bolongar, K. (March 2016). Palestinian Syrians: Twice refugees. Retrieved from http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/03/palestinian-syrians-refugees-160321055107834.html

[12] Ibid.

[13] UNHCR (June 2014). Syrian Refugees in Europe: What Europe Can Do to Ensure Protection and Solidarity. Retrieved from: http://www.refworld.org/docid/53b69f574.html

[14] Orchard, C. & Miller, A. (September 2014). Forced Migration Policy Briefing 10: Protection in Europe for Refugees from Syria. Oxford Refugee Studies Centre. Retrieved from
https://www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/files/publications/policy-briefing-series/pb10-protection-europe-refugees-syria-2014.pdf

[15] Ibid.

[16] Bolongar, K. (March 2016). Palestinian Syrians: Twice refugees. Retrieved from http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/03/palestinian-syrians-refugees-160321055107834.html

[17] Ziadah, R. (May 2016). Journeys of Dispossession: Palestinian Refugees from Syria Confronting Fortress Europe. Retrieved from http://www.darkmatter101.org/site/2016/05/16/journeys-of-dispossession-palestinian-refugees-from-syria-confronting-fortress-europe/

[18] Article ID of the 1951 Refugee Convention excludes ‘persons who are at present receiving from organs or agencies of the UN other than the UNHCR protection or assistance’. The Palestinian refugees registered with UNRWA are the only group to whom this applies.

[19] Akram, S. (2001). Reinterpreting Palestinian Refugee Rights under International Law. In: N. Aruri (Ed.). Palestinian Refugees: The Right of Return. London: Pluto Press. 165-194.

[20] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/07/uk-will-accept-up-to-20000-syrian-refugees-david-cameron-confirms

Anne Irfan is a PhD student in International History at the London School of Economics. Her thesis looks at the historical development of UNRWA’s work in the Palestinian refugee camps, with research funded in part by a grant from the Council for British Research in the Levant (CBRL). She also works as a freelance writer and researcher on Middle Eastern history and refugee issues.