TNAG-1066-FCO40-1316-Human-rights-in-Hong-Kong-1981 — Page 159

E/CN.4/1503

Annex I Page 16

1974

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WEST ASIA

51.

rese

Palestinian Refugees

49. The story of the unrelenting struggle of the Palestinian people to gain a homeland and the tragedy of vast numbers of Palestinian refugees is too well known to be repeated in great detail here. During the last decade the continuing tensions in the Middle East, largely the troubled heritage of the Arab/Israeli wars which uprooted so many people, continue to take their toll. In the last Report of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) the number of Palestinian Of these some refugees was reported to be almost 1.9 million. 700 000 were still living in refugee camps. The country most affected in demographic, economic, social and political terms by the influx of Palestinian refugees was Jordan. In recent years the presence of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon has also played a significant role in the tragic upheavals in the area, the end of which is still not in sight.

50. According to UNRWA the main concentrations of Palestinian refugees were as follows: in Jordan (East): 732 615 and West Bank: 334 410; in the Gaza Strip: 370 269; in Lebanon: 232 455; and in Syria: 215 147. According to Palestinian sources over 1.5 million Palestinians live in other countries scattered over five continents. Most of them may not, however, be categor- ized as refugees in the same sense as those of concern to UNRWA.

Already in 1948, after the first major wave of Palestinian refugees, the General Assembly in its resolution 194 (111) resolved that:

"...the refugees wishing to return to their homes and be at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest possible date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of, or damage to, property which, under principles of interna- tional law or in equity, should be made good by the Government or authorities responsible;

11 and instructed:

11

...

the Conciliation Commission to facilitate the repatriation, resettlement and economic and social rehabilitation of the refugees and the payment of compensation,...".

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