Save the Children Sweden and Save the Children UK:

Protection Must Be Provided for Palestinian Refugee Children

 

5 June 2007

 

The risk of losing a family member or home, arbitrary detention and chronic malnutrition are some of the most traumatic legacies of the Israeli occupation resulting from the June 1967 war that continue to haunt all Palestinian children, especially refugee children, 40 years on.  These legacies continue despite the fact that Israel is signatory to, and has obligations under, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

 

Just as refugee children bore the brunt of conflict when Israeli forces occupied the West Bank (including east Jerusalem), Gaza, as well as Lebanese, Syrian and Egyptian territory, so today's youngest generation remain particularly exposed to continuous violations of their fundamental rights. Save the Children remains particularly concerned that responsible parties take into account the best interests of the child, as their living conditions slide into chronic humanitarian crisis and their exposure to violence increases.  Parents and adults often are not able to provide appropriate protection for their children.  

 

Recently, the renewed Israeli attacks on Gaza in late May which resulted in 44 Palestinians killed, including five children, and 113 injured, reflect how terribly exposed these children are. During the same period, Palestinian militant groups continued to fire homemade rockets into Israel proper, resulting in 1 death, again highlighting the vulnerabilities of both populations as the occupation continues.

 

The international community has a legal and moral obligation to safeguard these children's lives, and to press for resolving the issues that can help all children in the long term, including the right of return and self determination. All parties should contribute proactively to peace negotiations in order to provide comprehensive and final settlement to the conflict and a safe future for the children living in the Middle East region.

 

Save the Children calls on Israel and the international community to implement related United Nations resolutions and uphold their responsibilities under international human rights and humanitarian law.  In addition, Save the Children calls on the donor community to fulfill their commitments towards the children in the occupied Palestinian territory and the children throughout the region.

 

General Refugee Statistics:

§          Approximately 200,000 Palestinians were displaced for the first time after the 1967 war, adding to the approximately 750,000 displaced during the war in 1948.

§          Approximately 1,278,000 million^[i] Palestinian refugees reside in UNRWA’s 59 refugee camps throughout the OPT, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

§          The largest camp population is in the Gaza Strip-- comprising more than one-third of all registered refugees residing in camps.^[ii]

§          Children account for close to half of the refugee population registered for assistance with UNRWA in the Gaza Strip, and nearly 40 percent among the refugee populations of the West Bank, Jordan and Syria.

§          There are an estimated 2.1 million children living in the OPT.^[iii]  They comprise more than half of the Palestinian population or 52.5%.

§          Approximately 302,000 Palestinian refugee families live in the OPT: 187,000 families in Gaza and 115,000 families in the West Bank, representing approximately 66% and 30% of the total population of these areas respectively. ^[iv]

 

Protection:

§          Since the Intifada erupted, 864 Palestinian children died as a result of military or settler violence, 292 of whom are refugee children.^[v]

§          398 Palestinian children are being held in Israeli detention facilities^[vi], approximately 80% of whom are refugee children.^[vii]

 

Poverty:

§          By mid-2006, 72.4% of refugee households lived below the poverty line of $1.6, compared to 60.9% of non-refugee households.^[viii]

§          Although the refugee population of the OPT makes up 41% of the total population, refugees make up half of all poor and deep poor households.^[ix]

§          One-half million Palestinian refugees in the OPT are food insecure, highly dependent on assistance, and have an income and consumption below 1.6$ per capita per day.

§          UNRWA estimates that as many as 28,000 Palestinian refugee families depend on a PA salary, of which over 22,000 have already come forward to claim food rations from UNRWA.^[x]

 

Education:

§          159 UNRWA school children were killed from 2000 – 2005, 4 of whom were killed in 2005 by Israeli fire into UNRWA schools.^[xi]

§          A total of 1,548 children enrolled in UNRWA schools were injured during the same period, 10 of whom on school premises.

 

Health:

§          Chronic malnutrition now stands at 10%, and at an alarming 13.9% in Gaza.

§          More than 70% of nine-month-old children in Gaza are anemic.^[xii]

§          By the end of 2006, 10 out of 100 children under five are stunted.^[xiii]

§          Approximately 50% of refugees do not have health insurance.^[xiv]

 

END

Notes to editors

·          Save the Children has worked in the Middle East since 1949. Today we support a wide variety of programmes in Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory.

 

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