Palestinians in Lebanon
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 450,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Greater Beirut, Sidon, Tripoli | |
| Languages | |
| Arabic (Palestinian Arabic) | |
| Religion | |
| Sunni Islam and Catholic Christianity |
Palestinians in Lebanon refers to the Palestinian refugees, who fled to Lebanon during the 1948 Palestine war and their descendants, as well the armed Palestinians and the militia of Yasser Arafat. Many Palestinians and their descendants have never been naturalized, thus keeping a distinct status of "Palestinian refugee"s. Some Palestinians, mostly Christians, however did receive Lebanese citizenship, either through marriage with Lebanese nationals or by other means.
Estimates of the size of the Palestinian population in Lebanon ranged from 260,000 to 400,000 in 2011.Human Rights Watch estimated 300,000 as of 2011.UNRWA's count was 450,000 as of 2014 and has not updated this figure since. The Palestinian community does not have Lebanese citizenship and therefore does not have Lebanese identity cards, is legally barred from owning property or legally barred form entering a list of desirable occupations. Employment requires a government-issued work permit, and, according to the New York Times, although "Lebanon hands out and renews hundreds of thousands of work permits every year to people from Africa, Asia and other Arab countries... until now, only a handful have been given" to Palestinians. Palestinians in Lebanon also have to heavily rely on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for basic services such as health care and education, because they are not granted much access to the social services the Lebanese government provides.
In February 2011, a decree was signed by Boutros Harb, the caretaker labor minister(of Lebanon), on carrying out labor law amendments from August 2010. If these labor law amendments go into effect, it will make it easier for work permits to be acquired by Palestinians. The amendments are seen as "the first move to legalize the working status of Palestinians since the first refugees arrived, fleeing the 1948 Arab-Israeli war".
According to Human Rights Watch, Palestinian refugees in Lebanon live in "appalling social and economic conditions." They labor under legal restrictions that bar them from employment in at least 25 professions, "including law, medicine, and engineering," a system that relegates them to the black market for labor. And they are "still subject to a discriminatory law introduced in 2001 preventing them from registering property.
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