Palestinian refugee camps

Palestinian refugee camps were first established to accommodate Palestinians who were displaced by the 1948 [Palestinian expulsion and flight] during the 1948 Palestine war. Camps were established by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. A subsequent wave of Palestinian refugees were created in the Naksa after the Six-Day War in 1967.
There are 68 Palestinian refugee camps in total, 58 official and 10 unofficial, ten of which were established after the Six-Day War while the others were established in 1948 to 1950s.
Only a third of registered Palestinian refugees live within the boundaries of the refugee camps. Most have integrated socially and economically outside the camps. Many live in adjacent geographic areas.
The number of registered Palestine refugees grew from 750,000 in 1950 to around 5 million in 2013.

History

Role of UNRWA

UNRWA's mandate is to provide assistance to Palestinian refugees, including access to its refugee camps. For this purpose, it defines Palestinian refugees as "persons whose normal place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948, and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict."
UNRWA also extends assistance to the patrilineal descendants of such refugees, as well as their legally adopted children.
File:ShufatCampJuly142023 05.jpg|thumb|Shu'fat Camp in the city of Jerusalem, 2023. The official area of the camp is in the center of the image and is characterized by low-rise buildings; on either side of the camp are additional Palestinian neighborhoods located beyond the Israeli [West Bank barrier], where the buildings are taller.
For a camp to be recognized by UNRWA, there must be an agreement between the host government and UNRWA governing use of the camp. UNRWA does not itself run any camps, has no police powers or administrative role, but simply provides services to the camp. UNRWA recognizes facilities in 58 designated refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and it also provides facilities in other areas where large numbers of registered Palestine refugees live outside of recognized camps. UNRWA also provided relief to Jewish displaced persons inside Israel following the 1948 conflict until the Israeli government took over responsibility for them in 1952. Refugee camps developed from tented cities to rows of concrete blockhouses to urban ghettos indistinguishable from their surroundings, that house around one third of all registered Palestine refugees.
The Funding for UNRWA activities comes almost entirely from voluntary contributions from UN member states. UNRWA also receives some funding from the Regular Budget of the United Nations, which is used mostly for international staffing costs.

List of camps

The camps are divided between five regions:

Gaza Strip: The Gaza Strip has eight official and no unofficial refugee camps, and 1,221,110 registered refugees.
West Bank: The West Bank has 19 official and four unofficial refugee camps, and 741,409 registered refugees.
Syria: Syria has nine official refugee camps and three unofficial refugee camps, and 499,189 registered refugees.
Lebanon: There are 12 official refugee and no unofficial camps in Lebanon, and 448,599 registered refugees.
Jordan: There are 10 official and three unofficial refugee camps in Jordan, and 2,034,641 registered refugees.

Name	Founded	Location	Status	Coordinates	Population	Area	Density	Comments	Refs
Yarmouk	1957	Syria	Unofficial		n.a.	2.1	n.a.	Largely destroyed
Rafah	1949	Gaza Strip	UNRWA		125,304	n.a.	n.a.
Baqa'a	1968	Jordan	UNRWA		119,000	1.4	85,000
Jabalia	1948	Gaza Strip	UNRWA		113,990	1.4	81,421
Khan Yunis	1949	Gaza Strip	UNRWA		87,816	0.549	159,956
Al-Shati	1948	Gaza Strip	UNRWA		85,628	0.52	164,669
Nuseirat	1949	Gaza Strip	UNRWA		80,194	n.a.	n.a.
Ain al-Hilweh	1948	Lebanon	UNRWA		59,660	0.3	198,867
Al-Wehdat refugee camp	1955	Jordan	UNRWA		57,000	0.48	118,750
Marka	1968	Jordan	UNRWA		53,000	0.92	57,609
Jaramana	1948	Syria	UNRWA		49,000	0.03	1,633,333
Latakia	1955–6	Syria	Unofficial		47,400	0.22	215,455
Bureij	1949	Gaza Strip	UNRWA		43,330	0.529	81,909
Rashidieh	1963	Lebanon	UNRWA		34,584	0.25	138,336
Jabal el-Hussein	1952	Jordan	UNRWA		32,000	0.42	76,190
Maghazi	1949	Gaza Strip	UNRWA		31,329	0.6	52,215
Jerash	1968	Jordan	UNRWA		29,000	0.75	38,667
Irbid	1951	Jordan	UNRWA		28,000	0.24	116,667
Balata	1950	West Bank	UNRWA		27,000	0.25	108,000
Deir al-Balah	1948	Gaza Strip	UNRWA		25,569	0.16	159,806
Husn	1968	Jordan	UNRWA		25,000	0.77	32,468
Burj el-Shamali	1955	Lebanon	UNRWA		24,929	0.134	186,037
Shu'fat camp	1965	West Bank	UNRWA		24,000	0.2	120,000
Qabr Essit	1967	Syria	UNRWA		23,700	0.02	1,185,000
Tulkarm	1950	West Bank	UNRWA		21,500	0.18	119,444
Beddawi	1955	Lebanon	UNRWA		21,252	0.2	106,260
Zarqa	1949	Jordan	UNRWA		20,000	0.18	111,111
Bourj el-Barajneh	1948	Lebanon	UNRWA		19,539	0.104	187,875
Souf	1967	Jordan	UNRWA		19,000	0.5	38,000
Askar	1950	West Bank	UNRWA		18,500	0.119	155,462
Al-Nayrab	1948	Syria	UNRWA		18,000	0.15	120,000
Dheisheh	1949	West Bank	UNRWA		15,000	0.33	45,455
Qalandia	1949	West Bank	UNRWA		14,800	0.42	35,238
Al-Hassan	1967	Jordan	Unofficial		14,068	n.a.	n.a.
Jenin	1953	West Bank	UNRWA		14,000	0.42	33,333
Jalazone	1949	West Bank	UNRWA		13,000	0.253	51,383
Al-Sabinah	1948	Syria	UNRWA		13,000	0.03	433,333
Homs	1949	Syria	UNRWA		13,000	0.15	86,667
Khan Danoun	1950	Syria	UNRWA		12,650	0.03	421,667
El Buss	1948	Lebanon	UNRWA		12,281	0.08	153,513
Al-Arroub	1950	West Bank	UNRWA		12,000	0.24	50,000
Khan al-Shih	1949	Syria	UNRWA		12,000	0.69	17,391
Shatila	1949	Lebanon	UNRWA		10,849	0.04	271,225
Nur Shams	1952	West Bank	UNRWA		10,500	0.21	50,000
Daraa	1950	Syria	UNRWA		10,500	1.3	8,077
Fawwar	1949	West Bank	UNRWA		9,500	0.27	35,185
Wavel	1948	Lebanon	UNRWA		9,460	0.043	220,000
Hama	1950	Syria	UNRWA		9,000	0.06	150,000
Aqabat Jaber	1948	West Bank	UNRWA		8,600	1.67	5,150
Madaba camp	1956	Jordan	Unofficial		8,597	n.a.	n.a.
Far'a	1949	West Bank	UNRWA		8,500	0.26	32,692
Talbieh Camp	1968	Jordan	UNRWA		8,000	0.13	61,538
Ein Beit al-Ma'	1950	West Bank	UNRWA		7,500	0.045	166,667
Sokhna camp	1969	Jordan	Unofficial		7,424	n.a.	n.a.	sometimes transliterated 'Sakhna' or 'Sukhna'
Am'ari	1949	West Bank	UNRWA		7,000	0.096	72,917
Ein Al-Tal	1962	Syria	Unofficial		n.a.	0.16	n.a.	Largely destroyed
Nahr al-Bared	1949	Lebanon	UNRWA		5,857	0.198	29,581	Reconstructed, was 27,000 population
Mieh Mieh	1954	Lebanon	UNRWA		5,747	0.054	106,426
Aida	1950	West Bank	UNRWA		5,500	0.071	77,465
Dbayeh	1956	Lebanon	UNRWA		4,591	0.084	54,655
Ein as-Sultan camp	1948	West Bank	UNRWA		3,800	0.87	4,368
'Azza	1950	West Bank	UNRWA		2,900	0.027	107,407
Deir 'Ammar Camp	1949	West Bank	UNRWA		2,500	0.162	15,432
Qaddura camp	1948	West Bank	Unofficial		1,558	n.a.	n.a.
Mar Elias refugee camp	1952	Lebanon	UNRWA		725	0.0054	134,259
Silwad Camp	1971	West Bank	Unofficial		462	n.a.	n.a.
Abu Shukheidim camp	1948	West Bank	Unofficial		n.a.	n.a.	n.a.	Town of Abu Shukhaydam shows on maps as ~1 mi SW of Birzeit
Birzeit camp	1948	West Bank	Unofficial		n.a.	n.a.	n.a.

Population statistics

The evolution of Palestinian refugee population is shown below:

	1950	1960	1970	1980	1990	2000	2004	2009	2018
Jordan	506,200	613,743	506,038	716,372	929,097	1,570,192	1,758,274	1,951,603	2,242,579
Lebanon	127,600	136,561	175,958	226,554	302,049	376,472	396,890	422,188	475,075
Syria	82,194	115,043	158,717	209,362	280,731	383,199	417,346	461,897	560,139
West Bank	–	–	272,692	324,035	414,298	583,009	675,670	762,820	846,465
Gaza Strip	198,227	255,542	311,814	367,995	496,339	824,622	938,531	1,073,303	1,421,282
Total registered refugees	914,221	1,120,889	1,425,219	1,844,318	2,422,514	3,737,494	4,186,711	4,671,811	5,545,540

The number of Palestinian refugees living within the UNWRA registered area of operations is shown below, both those living in camps and those living outside camps:

	Registered persons	Registered refugees in camps	% registered refugees in camps
1953	870,158	300,785	34.6
1955	912,425	351,532	38.5
1960	1,136,487	409,223	36.0
1965	1,300,117	508,042	39.1
1970	1,445,022	500,985	34.7
1975	1,652,436	551,643	33.4
1980	1,863,162	613,149	32.9
1985	2,119,862	805,482	38.0
1990	2,466,516	697,709	28.3
1995	3,246,044	1,007,375	31.0
2000	3,806,055	1,227,954	32.3
2005	4,283,892	1,265,987	29.6
2010	4,966,664	1,452,790	29.3
2015	5,741,480	1,632,876	28.4
2018	6,171,793	1,728,409	28.0

The table below shows the population of registered refugees, other registered people, and refugees residing in camps, in 2018. UNRWA's definition of Other Registered Persons refer to "those who, at the time of original registration did not satisfy all of UNRWA's Palestine refugee criteria, but who were determined to have suffered significant loss and/or hardship for reasons related to the 1948 conflict in Palestine; they also include persons who belong to the families of other registered persons."

	Jordan	Lebanon	Syria	West Bank	Gaza Strip	Total
Registered refugees	2,242,579	475,075	560,139	846,465	1,421,282	5,545,540
Other registered people	133,902	58,810	83,003	201,525	149,013	626,253
Total registered people	2,376,481	533,885	643,142	1,047,990	1,570,295	6,171,793
Refugees living within official camp borders	412,054	270,614	194,993	256,758	593,990	1,728,409
% living within camp borders	18.4%	57.0%	34.8%	30.3%	41.8%	31.2%

Maps

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Category:Forced migration in Asia
Category:Statelessness
Category:Temporary populated places