The present Bachelor thesis looks at why refugees of Palestinian origin are treated differently from all other refugees and how this affects their rights. Palestinian refugees are the only group...Show moreThe present Bachelor thesis looks at why refugees of Palestinian origin are treated differently from all other refugees and how this affects their rights. Palestinian refugees are the only group that has been specifically excluded from the protection and the rights stipulated in the 1951 Refugee Convention. Although their ongoing displacement clearly constitutes a protracted refugee situation, Palestinian refugees do not respond to three-step solution that the UNHCR pursues in such situations: assimilation, resettlement or repatriation. By resolution 194 the United Nations in 1948 enshrined the right of return for the Palestinian refugees and created a dedicated agency, the Conciliation Commission on Palestine (UNCCP), to assure the collective rights of Palestinians. The UNCCP has become obsolete over the years without being formally abandoned and the UNRWA, the Relief and Works Agency that is tasked with the delivery humanitarian assistance is facing increasing restrictions. Being tied to weak organisations that were meant to offer some sort of protection, many Palestinian refugees today have to face the dilemma that only collective rights, as stipulated in resolution 194, preserve their right of return. Upholding this collective claim means that they have to no access to individual rights and thus suffer from a protection gap that is ever growing.Show less
