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)