Three ways the UK can protect Palestinian refugees from Syria

27 July 2016

Following on from the launch of our petition in March and coming in the week of the 65th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention, MAP are today launching an initiative with Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights (LPHR) to advocate for protection for Palestinian refugees from Syria. This initiative, outlined here in a joint briefing, aims to ensure that the most vulnerable Palestinian refugees from Syria are given equal access to international protection by the UK government's relevant resettlement schemes.

So far not a single Palestinian refugee from Syria has been resettled under any of the UK's resettlement schemes and the UK's largest programme, to resettle 20,000 refugees fleeing war in Syria, is only open to Syrian nationals. MAP and LPHR have outlined the three key steps the UK can take to begin to ensure protection is provided on the basis of need, not nationality:

1. Urgently enlarge the scope of the Syrian Vulnerable Person Resettlement Programme (VPR) to provide protection to Palestinian refugees from Syria if they fulfil the necessary vulnerability criteria and are unable to access the assistance or protection of UNRWA for reasons beyond their control;
2. Work closely with UNRWA and UNHCR to ensure that Palestinian refugees from Syria who are unable to access protection through UNRWA are given access to apply to the Gateway Protection resettlement programme operated by the UK government in partnership with UNHCR;
3. Monitor whether Palestinian refugees from Syria in Lebanon and Jordan are able to access essential healthcare assistance through UNRWA, and whether those in Turkey can access essential medical assistance through UNHCR. If it is found that healthcare assistance is currently unable to meet medical needs then the UK should prioritise working with national and international partners to support UNRWA, UNHCR and other service providers.

MAP CEO, Tony Laurance, said “Palestinian refugees who have fled war in Syria are as vulnerable as all other refugees fleeing this dreadful conflict. They should be offered the same routes to protection. Resettlement to the UK would provide the most vulnerable families with the safety and access to healthcare they vitally need.”

MAP and LPHR will be working together in the coming months to ensure that these recommendations are considered by the UK government as part of its contribution to the protection of the most vulnerable refugees from Syria.

You can read the full briefing here and sign up to our petition here.

Featured image: Palestinian refugees in Yarmouk camp queue for food in 2014 (Image source: UNRWA)