The Palestinian refugee question, resulting from the events surrounding the birth of the state of Israel seventy years ago, remains one of the largest and most protracted refugee crises of the post-WWII era. Numbering over six million in the Middle East alone, Palestinian refugees' status varies considerably according to the state or territory 'hosting' them, the UN agency assisting them and political circumstances surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict these refugees are naturally associated with. Despite being foundational to both the experience of the Palestinian refugees and the resolution of their plight, international law is often side-lined in political discussions concerning their fate. This compelling new book, building on the seminal contribution of the first edition (1998), offers a clear and comprehensive analysis of various areas of international law (including refugee law, human rights law, humanitarian law, the law relating to stateless persons, principles related to internally displaced persons, as well as notions of international criminal law), and probes their relevance to the provision of international protection for Palestinian refugees and their quest for durable solutions.

What is the historical framework of the Palestinian refugee crisis and what durable solutions are available? Which human rights instruments are applicable to Palestinian refugees? What is the place of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees within the global refugee framework and what challenges does the Agency face? This book approaches the question of Palestinian refugees from a legal, historical and political perspective to address these and other relevant questions. Seeking to impart an understanding of the place of Palestinian refugees under international law, it explores the rights of Palestinian refugees, including the collective rights of self-determination and state sovereignty and the individual right of return. It discusses the specialized, separate regime established for Palestinian refugees and the relationship of this regime vis-à-vis the UN Refugee Agency and the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.

7. Scope of the study

This well-established and widely-respected "Yearbook," is a primary source of information on significant and topical legal issues relating to the Palestinian territories. It provides, in a single annual volume, not only leading articles on topics of major interest to the international legal community, but also key legislation, court decisions, legal cases, treaties, reslolutions, special reports, and other relevant legal material translated from the original Arabic or Hebrew into English. The 11th volume of "The Palestine Yearbook of International Law" is devoted specifically to the question of Palestine refugees and includes: - a comparison of the international legal framework designed to protect refugees with the framework already established for the protection of Palestinian Refugees, - an examination of the various pieces of legislation enacted to 'legally' confiscate Palestinian lands, - raising the question as to how the plight of Palestinian refugees may be addressed in the international legal system, - legal precedents regarding refugees, includiing the Dayton accord and UN Resolutions, -various agreements signed over the course of the past year, - a detailed bibliography of books, monographs and articles, - a comprehensive index. This new volume, as with its predecessors, will be an invaluable source of reference and record on the complex legal issues relating to the Palestinian territories, and will be of prime interest to legal practitioners, researchers, scholars and anyone involved in law, politics, human rights or international relations who has an interest in this region.

This book provides a comparative examination of a number of different refugee return situations in order to identify pre-requisites for an effective and durable Palestinian repatriation programme. It contains contributions from members of the UN and other NGOs as well as academics.

This report is the first in a new series o global security matters. It focuses on the Government's policy to Israel, its Arab neighbours, Iraq and the increasing influence of Iran in the region. It also considers the role of other regional actors and the Government's broad approach the Middle East as a whole. There are a number of specific recommendations for each of the countries in the region, such as the need to start talking to Hamas. More generally it recommends that the Government should pay closer attention to the impact of its foreign policy in the Middle East and that it should publish a strategy paper with measurable targets for progress.

Based on personal interviews with Palestinian families, Oroub El-Abed examines the effects of displacement and the livelihood strategies that Palestinians have employed while living in Egypt. The author also analyzes the impact of fluctuating Egyptian government policies on the Palestinian way of life. With limited basic human rights and in the context of very poor living conditions for Egyptians in general, Palestinians in Egypt have had to employ an array of both tangible and intangible assets to survive. By providing an account of how they marshalled these assets, this book aims to contribute to the expanding literature on forced migration and the theoretical understanding of the livelihoods of Palestinians in their "host" countries.

The ongoing Palestinian refugee problem represents one of the largest and most protracted displacements of people in the world. This book tackles the issue of reparations for those affected. Employing a comparative approach, the author examines other precedents for reparations and how these might be employed in the Palestinian case.

More than four million Palestinian refugees live in protracted exile across the Middle East. Taking a regional approach to Palestinian refugee exile and alienation across the Levant, this book proposes a new understanding of the spatial and political dimensions of refugee camps across the Middle East. Combining critical scholarship with ethnographic insight, the essays uncover host states’ marginalisation of stateless refugees and shed light on new terminology on refugees, migration and diaspora studies. The impact on the refugee community is detailed in novel studies of refugee identity, memory and practice and new legal approaches to compensation and "right of return". The book opens a critical debate on key concepts and proposes a new understanding of the spatial and political dimensions of refugee camps, better understood as laboratories of Palestinian society and "state-in-making". This strong collection of original essays is an essential resource for scholars and students in refugee studies, forced migration, disaster studies, legal anthropology, urban studies, international law and Middle East history.

At the start of 2014, more people were displaced globally by conflict and human rights violations than at any time since the Second World War. Although many of those displaced, from countries such as Syria, Iraq, Colombia, Kenya, and Sudan, have survived grave human rights abuses that demand redress, the links between forced migration, justice, and reconciliation have historically received little attention. This collection addresses the roles of various actors including governments, UN agencies, NGOs, and displaced persons themselves, raising complex questions about accountability for past injustices and how to support reconciliation in communities shaped by exile. Forced Migration, Reconciliation, and Justice draws on a variety of disciplinary perspectives including political science, law, anthropology, and social work. The chapters range from case studies in countries such as Bosnia, Cambodia, Lebanon, Turkey, East Timor, Kenya, and Canada, to macro-level analyses of trends, interconnections, and theoretical dilemmas. Furthermore, the authors explore the contribution of trials and truth commissions, as well as the role of religious practices, oral history, theatre, and social interactions in addressing justice and reconciliation issues in affected communities. In doing so, they provide fresh insight into emerging debates at the centre of forced migration and transitional justice. Exploring critical issues in political science and development studies, this provocative collaboration unites leading researchers, policymakers, human rights advocates, and aid workers to examine the theoretical and practical relationships between displacement, transitional justice, and reconciliation. Contributors include Ian B. Anderson (Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada), John Bell (Toledo International Center for Peace), Chaloka Beyani (London School of Economics), Mateja Celestina (Coventry University), Ayse Betül Çelik (Sabanci University), Mick Dumper (Exeter University), Roger Duthie (International Center for Transitional Justice), Huma Haider (University of Birmingham), Nancy Maroun (United Nations Development Programme Office in Lebanon), James Milner (Carleton University), Mike Molloy (University of Ottawa), Paige Morrow (Frank Bold), Lisa Ndejuru (Concordia University), Thien-Huong T. Ninh (California State University, Dominguez Hills), Anneke Smit (University of Windsor), Roberto Vidal López (Pontifica Universidad), Luiz Vieira (formerly with IOM), Nicole Waintraub (University of Ottawa), Jennifer Winstanley (lawyer).