SIDON, Lebanon– Non-ID Palestinians are those individuals who arrived to Lebanon after the 1967 exodus when Israel invaded the West Bank and Gaza Strip.  Additionally, some of the Non-ID Palestinians are a byproduct of the Black September events in 1970 when clashes between Jordanian forces and Palestinian fighters forced many Palestinians to flee.  Now, over forty years later, many of these Non-ID Palestinians in Lebanon are being denied the most basic of human rights because in the eyes of the Lebanese government they simply do not exist.

The number of Non-ID Palestinians was relatively few just after 1967, but that number in Lebanon today varies between 4,000 and 5,000.

According to Issam Halabi, the director of the Palestinian Union for Refugees, the Lebanese government has refused to treat thousands of Non-ID Palestinians as refugees or even give them the same legal status as illegal aliens.  He further added that the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) is the authority responsible for the Non-ID Palestinian caseload, but in his opinion, they have failed to provide suitable living conditions for nearly all of the Non-ID Palestinians.

To many, education, the ability to marry and other freedoms would seem to be basic human rights, yet Halabi says these rights are not being given to the Non-ID Palestinians.  In fact, Halabi has said that the living conditions for the Non-ID Palestinians is so dire because they do not have the right to attend schools or universities, come and go as they please, and possess legal identification or a passport.  The common sentiment is that “the government sees them as illegal.”

In one striking example, sixty-five year old Abu Mohammad Omar, a refugee at Lebanon’s largest Palestinian gathering Ain al-Hillweh, has told of the struggles facing Non-ID Palestinians.  “As if the hardship we face as Palestinian refugees is not enough.  I cannot leave the camp and I cannot work because I have no legal status.  I cannot even guarantee that Lebanese security forces won’t arrest me because I have no proof of existence,” said Omar.

In 2008, the Lebanese General Security began issuing identification papers to undocumented Palestinians, but the documents are no longer valid.  Nonetheless, Non-ID Palestinians are still hoping that talk of issuing new identifications will come true.

For more information, please see:

The Daily Star- Non-ID Palestinians Lack Even Basic Rights of Refugees– 14 December 2009

Relief Web- Lebanon’s ‘Non-ID Palestinians’: No Legal Status, No Hope– 6 December 2009

Tadamon- Lebanon: Palestinians Without Papers– 28 March 2008