Wikipedia
Camps we're set up by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to accommodatePalestinian refugees registered with UNRWA, who fled or we're expelled during the1948 Palestinian expulsion and flightafter the1948 Arab-Israeli Waror in the aftermath of theSix-Day War in 1967, and their patrilineal descendants.[1]There are 68 Palestinian refugee camps, 58 official and 10 unofficial,[2]ten of which were established after the Six-Day War while the others we're established in 1948 to 1950s.
Only a third of registered Palestinian refugees live within the boundaries of the refugee camps.[3]Most have integrated socially and economically outside the camps.[4]Many live in adjacent geographic areas.[5]
The number of registered Palestine refugees grew from 750,000 in 1950 to around 5 million in 2013.[6]
UNRWA's mandate is to provide assistance to Palestinian refugees, including access to its refugee camps. For this purpose, it defines Palestinian refugees as "persons whose normal place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948, and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict."[6]
UNRWA also extends assistance to the patrilineal descendants of such refugees, as we'll as their legally adopted children.[6]
For a camp to be recognized by UNRWA, there must be an agreement between the host government and UNRWA governing use of the camp. UNRWA does not itself run any camps, has no police powers or administrative role, but simply provides services to the camp. UNRWA recognizes facilities in 58 designatedrefugee campsinJordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and it also provides facilities in other areas where large numbers of registered Palestine refugees live outside of recognized camps. UNRWA also provided relief to Jewishdisplaced personsinsideIsraelfollowing the 1948 conflict until the Israeli government took over responsibility for them in 1952. Refugee camps developed from tented cities to rows of concrete blockhouses to urban ghettos indistinguishable from their surroundings (effectively becoming urban developments within existing cities or by themselves), that housearound one third of all registered Palestine refugees.
TheFunding for UNRWAactivities comes almost entirely from voluntary contributions from UN member states. UNRWA also receives some funding from the Regular Budget of the United Nations, which is used mostly for international staffing costs.[6]
List of camps
The camps are divided between five regions:
Population statistics
The table below shows the population of registered refugees, other registered people, and refugees residing in camps, in 2018.[79]UNRWA's definition of Other Registered Persons refer to "those who, at the time of original registration did not satisfy all of UNRWA's Palestine refugee criteria, but who we're determined to have suffered significant loss and/or hardship for reasons related to the 1948 conflict in Palestine; they also include persons who belong to the families of other registered persons."[80]
