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According to
dictionaries “REFUGEE” means “ a person taking refugee in a foreign
country
from war or persecution
or natural disaster”.
The statement of UNRWA
[the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine
Refugees in the Near
East] to “Refugee” is a person whose normal residence was
Palestine for a minimum
of two years preceding the conflict in 1948 and who, as a result of
this conflict, lost both
his home and his means of livehood and took refugee in 1948 in one
of the countries were
UNRWA provides relief.
The number of
Palestinian refugees displaces from within what became the borders
of
Israel in 1948.
According to the United Nations Conciliation Commission in 1949 the
number was 726,000.
UNRWA in 1950 said that it was 957,000. But the Israeli government
suggested that the
number as 520,000 and the Palestinian researchers have suggested up
850,000. Of this
population, approximately one-third fled to the West Bank, another
third to
the Gaza Strip, and the
remainder to Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon or farther a field. In
1967,
another 300,000
Palestinians fled from the West Bank and Gaza to Jordan [ 200,000],
Egypt, Syria and to
other countries.
TABLE
2: UNRWA Registered Refugees (June 1995)
|
|
In Camps |
Not in Camps |
Total |
|
Jordan |
238,188 |
1,050,009 |
1,288,197 |
|
West Bank |
131,705 |
385,707 |
517,412 |
|
Gaza |
362,626 |
320,934 |
683,560 |
|
Lebanon |
175,747 |
170,417 |
346,164 |
|
Syria |
83,311 |
253,997 |
337,308 |
|
TOTAL |
991,577 |
2,181,064 |
3,172,641 |
Increase of Palestinian
Refugees Worldwide
|
Area |
Average increase of refugees between
1950-98 |
Number of refugees in 1950 |
Number of refugees in 1998 |
Percentage of growth of refugees'
number |
Average increase inside the refugee
camps |
|
Jordan |
956.864 |
506.200 |
1,463,064 |
60% |
269,749 |
|
Lebanon |
236,951 |
127,600 |
364,551 |
64% |
198,931 |
|
Syria |
283,611 |
82,194 |
365,805 |
77% |
106,748 |
|
West
Bank |
1870-98
282,365 |
1970
272,692 |
555,057 |
51% |
147,015 |
|
Gaza
Strip |
574,426 |
198,227 |
772,653 |
74% |
423,881 |
|
Total |
2,334,217 |
1,186,913 |
3,521,130 |
66,2 |
1,146,324 |
Source: UNRWA Report 1998& Walid Badouri:
"Development of Average Number of Refugees"
Distribution of Palestinian
Population Worldwide
Palestine
West
Bank 1,869,818
Gaza
Strip 1,020,813
WBGS residents
living abroad 325,258
Areas Occupied
since 1948 953,497
Total Inside
Palestine 4,169,386
Diaspora
Jordan 2,328,308
Lebanon 430,183
Syria 465,662
Egypt 48,784
Saudi Arabia 274,762
Kuwait & Gulf area 143,274
Libia & Iraq 74,284
Other Arab countries 5,544
The Americas 203,588
Other countries 259,248
Total outside Palestine 4,233,637
Total
Palestinian population worldwide 8,403,023
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