Palestinians win landmark case in Switzerland for UN ‘protective rights’ – Middle East Monitor
After an eight-year legal battle, a Swiss court has recognized the statelessness of Palestinian refugees from Syria and recognized their right to protection. The landmark case could open the door for other Palestinians to secure basic rights as refugees, denied to them since their ethnic cleansing by Israel.
The Swiss Federal Court of Justice’s decision will recognize Palestinian refugees’ right to protection under the 1954 UN Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons.
For various political and historical reasons, Palestinian refugees are unique in that they suffer from what is known as a “vulnerability gap” in the international system. Of the six million Palestinian refugees, the vast majority have access to basic services through the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Middle East (UNRWA). However, the agency is not mandated to assist Palestinian refugees in their right of return, which is a legitimate fundamental right for all refugees.
The United Nations Reconciliation Commission for Palestine (UNCCP) was created in parallel with UNRWA. The agencies should provide shelter or humanitarian assistance to Palestinian refugees. However, lack of political will meant that the UNCCP was unable to advance Palestinian rights to repatriation, compensation and return, and thus disbanded in the 1950s, leaving the Palestinians with a “vulnerability”.
Refugees outside UNRWA’s areas of operations — the Gaza Strip, West Bank, East Jerusalem, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon — face a double threat, as they are not only denied UNRWA’s services, but are also denied the comprehensive protections that are offered in Syria under various UN conventions such as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
A series about statelessness: Palestinians fleeing death and destruction in Syria are unwelcome visitors in host countries
The Swiss court’s decision marks a fundamental change in the practical application of the 1954 Convention, which had previously barred Palestinian refugees from Syria from attaining fundamental rights accorded to others, including the rights of residence, work and freedom of movement. The decision follows a lawsuit filed by Ghada Al-Rayyan, a Palestinian-Syrian legal scholar at the Law for Palestine Organization. Al-Rayyan fled to Switzerland in 2014 after the outbreak of war in Syria. Her plea called for a change in the description of Palestinian refugees arriving from Syria from “de facto stateless persons or citizens of an unknown state to de jure stateless refugees”.
“It is a fundamental change in the practical application of the convention that previously prevented Palestinian refugees from Syria from obtaining the right to protection, which guarantees them the basic rights to reside, work and move,” Al-Rayyan said MEMO. “Our case is the first in which the Swiss Supreme Court or Supreme Court has recognized us as stateless persons, allowing us to seek protection under the UN Convention, which requires signatory states to issue full residency permits that do not include a travel ban have basic human rights. Palestinians arriving from Syria are not automatically granted recognition of their de jure statelessness. However, you have a powerful case in hand that changed the practical application of the 1954 UN Convention on Stateless Persons.”
Al-Rayyan said she was “very relieved and proud” after her win. “It has been a very arduous and long battle that has drained my time, resources, patience and, more importantly, my family’s hope.”
Commenting on UNRWA’s ability to protect Palestinian refugees, Al-Rayyan said that it very much depends on the political decisions of the host countries. “The siege of Al-Yarmouk camp in Damascus is clear evidence that UNRWA’s protection is limited to relief, humanitarian and social services.” The camp came under attack from around 2013 by forces loyal to President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime.