Return, Resettlement, Repatriation:
The Future of Palestinian Refugees in the Peace Negotiations
Source: FOFOGNET Digest, 22 April 1996
by Salim Tamari, Institute
of Jerusalem Studies
Final Status Strategic Studies
Institute for Palestine Studies
Beirut, Washington, and Jerusalem
February 1996
Appendix 2: The Israeli-Palestinian
Interim Agreement and Guidelines for Residency of
Returning Palestinians
The Oslo 2 Agreement, signed on September 28th, 1995,
contains several guidelines for dealing with a number
of categories of Palestinians who seek to establish
(or reestablish these residencies). Following is a
discussion of these guidelines.
I. Gaining Residency in Palestine through
the Electoral Law:
In the Protocol Concerning Elections (Annex II--Right
to Vote)articles (g) stipulates (inter alia):
"Any person who (1) will be at least 40 years
old on January 1, 1996 and can provide satisfactory
evidence that he or she has actually lived in the
West Bank or the Gaza Strip continuously, except for
short absences, for at least 3 years immediately prior
to the date of the signing of this agreement; or (2)
will be less than 40 years old on January 1, 1996
and can provide satisfactory evidence the he or she
actually lived in the West Bank or the Gaza Strip
continuously, except for short absences, for at least
4 years immediately prior to he signing of this agreement,
SHALL be entitled, notwithstanding that he or she
was not previously entered in the Population Register,
to be entered in the Population Register and to receive
the appropriate identity card. The Palestinian Authority
and Israel, through the CAC, shall together invite
applications to be so entered in the Population Register.
Such applications shall be submitted prior to the
date of the elections to the Civil Administration
or the relevant joint Israeli-Palestinian liaison
body as appropriate and shall be dealt with by the>
Civil Administration or by both sides of such joint
liaison body on an expedited basis to assist the process
of registration". (pp 110-111, English Edition)
Comment:
This clause permits the admission into residency for
all adult Palestinians who have been living recently
in the West Bank and Gaza. It is not conditioned on
Israeli prior approval as in the items below. The
only restriction is for people who are deprived from
the right to vote by criminal proceedings (but only
for the duration of the sentence, and the mentally
handicapped. In all cases the court references is
to Palestinian courts and not to Israeli military
courts (article k). However it seems that Palestinians
residing in Jerusalem without residency papers will
not benefit from this clause. To benefit from this
clause Palestinians should register before the elections.
The paragraphs above do not indicate what will happen
to those people wishing to register to vote after
elections.
II. Gaining Permanent Residency in Palestine:
The Protocol on Civil Affairs, Annex III, Appendix
1, Article 28(Population Registry and Documentation)
states, inter alia
"[item 11] To reflect the spirit of the peace
process, the Palestinian side has the right, with
the prior approval of Israel, to grant permanent residency
in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to a. investors, for
the purpose of encouraging investment; b. spouses
and children of Palestinian residents; and c. other
persons, for humanitarian reasons, in order to promote
and upgrade family reunification". (p. 161, English
version)
Comment:
This clause does not contribute any changes to the
existing situation, unless it is the intention of
the Israeli government to raise the quota on family
reunification (currently 2,000 families or 6,000 persons
per annum). In fact the terms of the agreement might
make it more difficult for categories (b) and (c)
to gain residency since their applications have now
to go through two sets of bureaucracies (a Palestinian
and Israeli one). Nor does the clause improve on the
issue of accountability, and transparency for family
reunification applicants--as continuously demanded
during the negotiations.
III. Children who are currently denied
residency
Items 12 and 13 in the same article refer to children:
"The Palestinian side shall have the right to
register in the population registry all persons who
were born abroad or in the Gaza Strip and West Bank,
if under the age of sixteen years and either of their
parents is a resident of the Gaza Strip and the West
Bank"
Comment:
This item constitutes a significant improvement over
the current situation. Unlike the previous item (on
family reunification for adults) it does not require
the prior approval of the Israeli authorities, and
seems to be absolute. However it does conflict with
the recent definition of the Israeli Civil Administration(1994)
which defined children for purposes of family reunification
as those under 18, not 16.
IV. Visiting Rights and Work Permits
Issued to Palestinians (and others) Living Abroad
Wishing to Visit Palestine:
"Persons from countries not having diplomatic
relations with Israel who visit the Gaza Strip and
the West Bank shall be required to obtain a special
visitor's permit to be issued by the Palestinian side
and cleared by Israel. Requests for such permits shall
be filed by any relative or acquaintance of the visitor,
who is a resident, through the Palestinian side, or
by the Palestinian side itself..." [item a, article
28, same annex]
Comment:
This item registers some improvement over the existing
procedures,but final clearance is still in the hands
of the Israelis.Visitation rights are no longer confined
to the summer months, or to people who are the immediate
family members of the inviting Palestinian. As in
the current situation, the permit is valid for three
months, and can be renewed for a further four months
by the Palestinian side without approval of the Israeli
side (a notification is sufficient).
The clause also grants the PNA to issue work and
study permits, to be cleared by the Israelis, and
also the right to grant permanent residency to employees
who have been granted temporary (one year)work permits.
(item 13, article 28)
Visitor who come from countries having diplomatic
relations with Israel (item 14) are subject to the
same regulations except that they can visit the Palestinian
territories by obtaining an Israeli visa. No internal
sponsorship is necessary for those visitors.
Item 15 stipulates that the Palestinian side "shall
ensure that visitors...shall not overstay the duration
of their entry permit".But it does not indicate
what happens if this item is violated.
V. Lost Residencies ("Latecomers"):
For the first time in twenty eight years a joint committee
is setup to deliberate the issue of 'latecomers'.
That is Palestinians who lost their residencies in
the West Bank and Gaza because they exceeded the three
year limit (or one year limit if they left from Tel
Aviv airport) imposed by the Israelis for return to
the territories. There are currently over 90,000 persons
in this category.
Article 28 in Annex III (Population Registry and
Documentation)states that "a joint committee
will be established to solve there issuance of identity
cards to those residents who have lost their identity
cards". (Annex III.28.3) The weakness of this
clause is that it does not clarify the procedures
involved, nor does it elucidate the authority of this
joint committee. Nevertheless it does indicate that
at last that the issue be addressed jointly.Again
it is also not clear if Jerusalem residents will benefit
from this clause.
Endnotes
Not included in FOFOGNET version. The full published
version (with notes) can be ordered from the Institute
for Palestine Studies. |