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Also Palestinians have Rights!	Date: 20-06-2001

ALSO PALESTINIANS HAVE RIGHTS!! EMHRN REPORT ON PALESTINIAN REFUGEES IN LEBANON AND JORDAN RELEASED ON THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF REFUGEES The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN) today, on the International Day of Refugees, released its report: Also Refugees Have Rights! Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon and Jordan, Report based on an EMHRN mission 17-28 September 2000. The report is based on a mission of inquiry to refugee camps, meetings with UNRWA representatives, NGO representatives and government officials, and reviews the status of the Palestinian refugees with regard to international human rights standards. The report concludes that lack of recognition and legal protection has disastrous effects upon the way in which refugees live; conditions which are both inhuman and degrading. While the report acknowledges that the Palestinian question will not be resolved without a political solution on the part of the international community, it recommends that the international community and the authorities of the host countries concentrate their efforts equally to: promote and consolidate a development policy with the host countries in order to improve the standard of living of the native and refugee population and thus avoid destabilisation in the region; enlarge the mandate of the UNRWA and strenghten its financial support; reinforce legal co-operation between States and human rights organisations and promote the rights of refugees through permanent co-operation with NGOs in the field The report is released just after a new law of property was adopted in Lebanon. The new property law deprives persons from states not internationally recognised of the right to ownership of property in Lebanon. The EMHRN is deeply worried about its consequences for the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon who are clearly discriminated against by this new law. The EMHRN is calling on all relevant parties to cooperate to ensure the human rights of the Palestinian refugees, and eliminate the current discrimination. This report has been realised with the financial support of the European Commission. The points of views expressed in this book reflect the opinion of the EMHRN and is therefore not the official point of view of the European Commission.

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