Palestinian Refugee

Guide Note

Most basically, a Palestinian refugee is a person who fled the British Mandate of Palestine during the 1948 Arab Israeli War. Under the UNRWA definition, there are an estimated 4 million Palestinian refugees, living mostly in Gaza Strip, The West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.

The definition developed by the UNRWA, the special United Nations committee that oversees this population, includes descendants of those who fled in 1948, whether these people still live in a refugee camp or not. Palestinian refugees are the only refugees in the world covered by this broad definition. The UNRWA definition has been criticized as favoring Palestinian refugees over other refugee groups in the world. The UNRWA argues that the unique, stateless, nature of Palestinians under the British Mandate of Palestine makes the expansive definition necessary.

Fast Facts

1. Defined as people who fled the British Mandate of Palestine during the 1948 Arab Israeli War
2. UNRWA also includes descendants of these initial refugees
3. Total refugees in 1950: 711,000
4. Total refugees in 2005: 4.25 million
5. Significant populations with the Gaza Strip, The West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria