The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics has reported that more than 6 million Palestinian refugees are currently registered with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), underscoring the enduring crisis of displacement that began with the 1948 Nakba.

In observance of World Refugee Day on June 20—a date established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2000—the Bureau provided updated figures from UNRWA as of January 2022. These statistics reveal that approximately 5.9 million Palestinian refugees are registered with the agency. Within this group, around 2.5 million reside in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, making up about 42 percent of the total Palestinian refugee population, with 15 percent in the West Bank and 27 percent in Gaza.

The report further highlights the distribution of Palestinian refugees across Arab countries. About 40 percent of the refugees are located in Jordan, 8 percent in Lebanon, and 10 percent in Syria.

These numbers represent the minimum count of Palestinian refugees, recognizing the presence of unregistered individuals. The figures exclude those displaced post 1949 until the June 1967 war, according to UNRWA's definition, and do not include Palestinians displaced during the 1967 war who were not originally refugees. (QNA)