Palestinians in Lebanon
[citation needed] There are roughly 3,000 registered Palestinians and their descendants who hold no identification cards, including refugees of the 1967 Naksa.
[6] The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) reported 489,292 registered Palestine refugees as of March 2023 but estimated that no more than 250,000 were then resident in Lebanon.
[needs update] The amendments are seen as "the first move to legalize the working status of Palestinians since the first refugees arrived, fleeing the 1948 Arab-Israeli war".
[12] Activists claimed the law unfairly targeted Palestinian refugees, and would narrow down an already limited set of employment opportunities.
[13] UNRWA defines a Palestinian refugee as "any person whose normal place of residence was Palestine during the period June 1, 1946 to May 15, 1948.
Some of whom were previously registered as UNRWA refugees in Egypt and Jordan, but now hold expired, unrenewable or unrecognizable identity cards by the respective issuing authorities.
Non-ID Palestinians are able to obtain temporary identification papers by the Lebanese government, although these must be renewed yearly and are subject to conditions, such as inability to register formalities such as marriage, divorce and death.
[16] UNRWA reported that "as of March 2023, the total number of registered Palestine Refugees in Lebanon is 489,292 persons" and that "UNRWA records show a total of 31,400 Palestine Refugees from Syria residing in Lebanon", but that registration is voluntary and may not be updated with deaths and emigrations.
Lebanese government gave citizenship throughout the years to many Muslim Sunni, Shia and Christian refugees especially during mid 1990s.
[19] Without citizenship, Palestinians in Lebanon do not have Lebanese identity cards, which also entitles the holder to health care, education and other government services.
Palestinians living in and outside the 12 official camps, can receive health care, education and other social services from UNRWA.
[21] According to Human Rights Watch, Palestinian refugees in Lebanon live in "appalling social and economic conditions."
The amendments are seen as "the first move to legalize the working status of Palestinians since the first refugees arrived, fleeing the 1948 Arab-Israeli war".
[34][full citation needed] Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon contain armed groups which sometimes deal in illegal drugs, and that would cause infighting among the rivals.
In June 2020, a woman was shot dead in the Shatila refugee camp as she was walking on the street carrying her child during a shooting exchange between rival gangs.
[35] Due to sectarian tensions carried from the civil war, some discriminatory social attitudes are still held towards Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.
