Jerusalem
Settlement
The Wall
Gaza Crisis
The Right of Return
Demolitions
Non-Violence
Democracy
Children
Economic Development
Media
Peace Plans
Refugees
Past Projects
Books
Maps
Videos
  Lastest News
Mideast peace effort is a charade
By Ali Abunimah
The other threat to Israel
By Ian Bremmer
Israel is losing the battle of narratives
By Michael Young
Houston Events
 
Palestinian Festival in Houston-2012
 
First Palestinian Festival in Houston-2011
 

Connections

Visitors
THE RIGHT OF RETURN

FACTSHEET
Updated September 12, 2006

The Right To Return, a Basic Right Still Denied*

Palestinian refugees represent the longest suffering and largest refugee population in the world today.

• In 2005, there were approximately 7.2 million Palestinian refugees, equivalent to 74% of the entire Palestinian population which is estimated at 9.7 million worldwide.

• The breakdown of the refugee population is as follows:

Refugee at her home - a refugee camp.
  1. During the creation of the Zionist state in 1948, approximately three quarters of a million Palestinians were forced to become refugees. Together with their descendants, more than 4.3 million of these refugees are today registered with the United Nations while over 1.7 million are not. According to The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), one-third of the registered refugees live in 59 U.N.-run camps in Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, and in the West Bank and Gaza Strip sections of Palestine. The majority of the rest live in and around cities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and of neighboring countries.
  2. Approximately 32,000 Palestinians also became internally displaced in the areas occupied in 1948. Today, these refugees number approximately 355,000 persons. Despite the fact that they were issued Israeli citizenship, the Zionist state has also denied these refugees their right to return to their homes or villages.
  3. When the West Bank and Gaza Strip were occupied in 1967, the U.N. reported that approximately 200,000 Palestinians fled their homes. These 1967 refugees and their descendants today number about 834,000 persons.
  4. As a result of home demolitions, revocation of residency rights and construction of illegal settlements on stolen Palestinian owned-land, at least 57,000 Palestinians have become displaced in the occupied West Bank. This number includes 15,000 persons so far displaced by the construction of Israel's Annexation/Apartheid Wall.