Lebanon's leaders agree to improve social and legal rights for Palestinian refugees

Lebanon's leadership has taken a political decision to give additional legal and social rights to Palestinian refugees in the country, Lebanese and Palestinian political sources told The National on Thursday.

"There is a decision to improve the social and legal living situation of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon," a source close to Prime Minister Nawaf Salam told The National following Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's meeting with the Prime Minister on Thursday.

The source added that “there is no executive framework yet. The Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee is working on it".

Mr Abbas's visit to Lebanon, his first in seven years, comes as Lebanon's leadership − under pressure from the United States and Israel − seeks to ensure the demilitarisation of the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah and its Palestinian allies operating in the country.

Mr Abbas has simultaneously been seeking better living conditions for the hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees, who possess few legal rights in Lebanon – an issue his party has insisted is not a trade for disarmament.

"We refuse the idea that we will exact concessions in exchange for weapons," said Serhan Serhan, deputy secretary of Mr Abbas's Fatah faction, who operates in Lebanon. "We truly see that the issue of weapons in the camps is becoming dangerous and wrong and is being used for internal fighting instead of resistance against Israel."

The issue of disarming Lebanon's 12 Palestinian refugee camps, which are not under Lebanese state control, has long been one of contention. Palestinian groups such as Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, dedicated to armed resistance against Israel and allied with Hezbollah, have frequently used Lebanon as a base to launch rockets at Israel.

Many Palestinians who recall Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war see weapons as necessary for self-defence in the refugee camps. Others maintain that weapons have become tools for drug violence and internal political rivalries.

The camps are outside the control of the Lebanese state, which has made some of them a haven for outlaws, drug trafficking and Islamist extremists. Outbreaks of armed violence are common, as is inter-factional strife and conflict.

Expanded Palestinian rights

The Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee (LPDC), an inter-ministerial Lebanese government body, has been tasked with developing the legal framework for improving Palestinian refugee rights in Lebanon – something it has been working towards for a long time, according to its director Nadine Marouk. However, years of political instability and caretaker governments had hindered progress on the sensitive topic.

"The fact that it’s a new era for Lebanon with a strong presidency, a reform government and a homogenous cabinet" has allowed for a consensus on Palestinian refugee rights, she said.

"Disarmament is a sensitive issue and everyone is scared of how it will be implemented on the ground," she added, referring to hints from Lebanese and Palestinian officials that force could be used if factions do not abide by the disarmament decision. "So in parallel we are working on other fundamental issues ... like providing a comprehensive legal framework for property and labour rights."

She said the legal framework was being discussed by the Prime Minister and the government, and would later be sent to parliament to be endorsed by MPs.

Palestinian refugees in Lebanon – people expelled from their homes in 1948 during the Nakba and the creation of the state of Israel, and their descendants – are barred from working in more than 30 professions and are not permitted to own property. Because they are unable to obtain Lebanese citizenship, they are unable to access state benefits such as health care and education, instead relying on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) which has faced severe funding cuts.

A statement by Mr Abbas and Mr Salam emphasised “the importance of joint action to address the legal and social issues of Palestinian refugees, ensuring the improvement of their humanitarian conditions without compromising state sovereignty”, alluding to the often dire living conditions in the refugee camps.

The statement reiterated similar sentiments expressed after the Palestinian Authority leader met Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Wednesday.

The statement said Lebanon was committed to imposing its sovereignty over its territories including Palestinian camps “and completely closing the file on Palestinian weapons, whether inside or outside the camps, to ensure that weapons are exclusively controlled by the state”.

Recent discussions in Lebanon about disarming non-state groups have focused on Hezbollah, but attention has now turned towards weapons in the Palestinian refugee camps.

In March, Israel significantly increased its bombardment of southern Lebanon in response to fighters linked to Hamas allegedly firing rockets at the country from the area. Shortly afterwards, the Lebanese military arrested several suspects, including some who were handed over from different refugee camps.