World Refugee Day

'On World Refugee Day, let us reaffirm the importance of solidarity and burden-sharing by the international community. Refugees have been deprived of their homes, but they must not be deprived of their futures' UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Palestinian refugee is a person whose normal place of residence was Palestine during the period between 1 June 1946 and 15 May 1948 and those who both lost their homes and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict (as defined by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, UNRWA).  

One in every three refugees in the world is Palestinian!

There are approximately 7 million Palestinian refugees in the world and they can be categorised as: 

• The original 'Nakhba refugees' and their descendants (4.5 million)
• The 1967 Six Day War refugees  and descendants (1 million)
• 'Low intensity population transfer' refugees and other refugees

All refugees have the right to return to their homes and/ or receive compensation for the loss or damage of their properties. Israel has been deliberately denying the right to return of the Palestinian refugees which is a clear violation of international law.

'We should do whatever it takes to prevent the Palestinians from coming back to their homes. The old will die and the young will eventually forget' are the words of Israel's first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion.