The Syrian crisis has displaced two million Syrian refugees to neighboring countries and beyond. These figures do not include the 90,000 Palestinian refugees who have similarly sought refuge from the crisis in Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Malaysia, Gaza, and Switzerland. Unlike their Syrian counterparts, Palestinian refugees, who are experiencing secondary forced displacement, have being denied entry into Jordan, Egypt, and since August 2013, Lebanon as well. If granted entry, they have enjoyed inferior protection relative to Syrian refugees. In this lecture, delivered on 7 November 2013 at Georgetown University and sponsored by the Institute for International Migration Studies, the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS), and ANERA, Samar al Yassir, ANERA Lebanon Country Director, and Noura Erakat, Jadaliyya Co-Editor and Adjunct Assistant Professor at CCAS, discuss the status of Palestinian refugees fleeing Syria. Yassir provides a vivid overview of the conditions faced by Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, including conditions in the refugee camps and what is being done to ease the burden for both the refugees and families who have opened their doors to them. Erakat discusses how the overlapping refugee legal regime between UNHCR and UNRWA exposes Palestinian refugees to acute vulnerability during secondary forced displacement and has contributed to their disparate treatment during the Syria crisis.
See the ANERA Report on Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, which al Yassir discusses at length in the video.
Noura Erakat: Displaced Again: Palestinian Refugees from Syria
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Samar al Yassir: Displaced Again: Palestinian Refugees from Syria
"Displaced Again: Palestinian Refugees from Syria" by Samar al Yassir from Jadaliyya on Vimeo.