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| Palestinian Refugees: An Overview |
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| Estimates vary of the number of Palestinians
refugees displaced from within what became the
borders of Israel in 1948. In 1949, the United
Nations Conciliation Commission put the number
at 726,000; the newly-established United Nations
Relief and Works Agency subsequently put the number
at 957,000 in 1950. The Israeli government has
in the past suggested numbers as low as 520,000,
while Palestinian researchers have suggested up
to 850,000. Of this population, approximately
one-third fled to the West Bank, another third
to the Gaza Strip, and the remainder to Jordan,
Syria, Lebanon or farther afield.
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TABLE 1: Distribution of UNRWA-Registered Refugees by District of Origin (June 1992)
In 1967, another 300,000 Palestinians fled
from the West Bank and Gaza, to Jordan (200,000),
Syria, Egypt and elsewhere. Of these, approximately
180,000 were first-time refugees ("displaced
persons"), while the remainder were 1948 refugees
uprooted for the second time.
Estimates put the Palestinian population at
approximately 6.6 million in 1995. In 1995,
UNRWA data showed some 3,172,641 registered
refugees in its "area of operation" (West Bank,
Gaza, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon), plus an estimated
335,000 non-registered "displaced persons".
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| TABLE 2: UNRWA Registered Refugees (June 1995) |
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In
Camps |
Not
in Camps |
Total |
| Jordan |
238,188 |
1,050,009 |
1,288,197 |
| West
Bank |
131,705 |
385,707 |
517,412 |
| Gaza |
362,626 |
320,934 |
683,560 |
| Lebanon |
175,747 |
170,417 |
346,164 |
| Syria |
83,311 |
253,997 |
337,308 |
| TOTAL |
991,577 |
2,181,064 |
3,172,641 |
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Since
the initiation of the Middle East peace process
in Madrid in 1991, the refugee issue has been
addressed by Palestinians, Israel, other regional
parties and outside actors in a variety of political
frameworks. For more detail, see: The
refugees in the Middle East process.
In the context of those negotiations, as well
as in work of NGOs and analysts, a number of
key political issues have emerged. For more
details, see: Resolving
the refugee question.
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