User:ImTheIP/CannedArguments

Some arguments keep getting repeated over and over again on Wikipedia. It takes time and effort to refute them again and again. The purpose of this page is therefore to collect those refutations so that duplicate work can be avoided.

= Only Palestinian children are counted as refugees = The argument is that Palestinian refugees have privileges that other refugee groups don't. That descendants to refugees are not normally counted as refugees themselves, but in the case of Palestinians, they are.

The argument defies basic logic. If a woman in a refugee camp becomes pregnant and gives birth to a child, would that child not be a refugee? That child would be eligible for "derivative refugee status" and the UNHCR has a whole handbook for determining who are eligible for refugee status and who are not. From chapter 5 of Procedural Standards for Refugee Status Determination under UNHCR’s Mandate:


 * If the head of a family meets the criteria of the definition, [for refugee status] his dependants are normally granted refugee status according to the principle of family unity.
 * individuals who obtain derivative refugee status enjoy the same rights and entitlements as other recognised refugees and should retain this status notwithstanding the subsequent dissolution of the family through separation, divorce, death, or the fact that the child reaches the age of majority.

These paragraphs are also cited by UNRWA:s spokesman Chris Gunness in an interview, published on UNRWA:s website: Exploding the myths: UNRWA, UNHCR and the Palestinian refugees

Other refugee camps
People who believe Palestinian refugees are special often are not aware of the many other protracted refugee crises that have occurred around the world. Therefore examples of refugee camps that are run by the UNHCR that hosts inter-generational refugees can be persuasive.

One example of such a camp is the Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Uganda setup in 1958. It was originally setup for Rwandan refugees, but over the decades since people from conflicts in the nearby countries also sought refuge there. Conflicts in Africa are often protracted, so people were not able to return. Their children grew up as refugees and had children who themselves became refugees.

UNHCR:s own words
According to Chris Gunnes:


 * In addition, UNHCR typically cites a Palestinian refugee population number in their State of the World's Refugees reports

This must mean that the UNHCR, just like the UNRWA, consider the Palestinian refugees children to be refugees. An example of a UNHCR document in which the Palestinian refugee population is cited is chapter 5 of the report The State of the World's Refugees 2006 - Human displacement in the new millennium.

Counter-arguments
In the book Tackling the Intractable: Palestinian Refugees and the Search for Middle East Peace Michael Chiller-Glaus, claims that:


 * In the UNHCR's definition there is no mention of descendants. Moreover, the convention ceases to apply to a person who, inter alia, "has acquired a new nationality and, enjoys the protection of the country of his new nationality."{16}
 * Under this definition, the number of Palestinians qualifying for refugee status would be well below half a million.

This text can be interpreted to mean that Chiller-Glaus claims that refugee status is not inherited. He is correct that the UNHCR:s definition does not mention descendants, but it does not follow that descendants would not be refugees and established practice contradicts him. It is also not clear from where his estimate "well below half a million" comes from.

Further on in his book:


 * UNRWA's definition in practice is thus both more restrictive and more inclusive than the 1951 definition; for example, although it excludes persons taking refuge in countries other than Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, it does include the descendants of refugees.{20}

One can infer that because he correctly claims that the UNRWA:s definition includes descendants he also claims that the UNHCR:s definition does not. That is incorrect and again established practice and the previously cited book Procedural Standards for Refugee Status Determination under UNHCR’s Mandate contradicts him. Reading footnote 20, which is his source for the claim is revealing:


 * Although the UNHCR also provides support for children of refugees in many cases. See "Who is a Palestinian Refugee" www.wikipedia.org

This footnote is of course decrepit. There is no way to guess what "Who is a Palestinian Refugee" www.wikipedia.org refers to. But it appears that Wikipedia is partially responsible for promoting the myth of the uniqueness of the Palestinian refugees.

Derivative refugee status is different
Sometimes it is claimed that derivative refugee status is different from refugee status obtained through primary concerns. It is not, and the Procedural Standards for Refugee Status Determination under UNHCR’s Mandate makes that clear:


 * individuals who obtain derivative refugee status enjoy the same rights and entitlements as other recognised refugees and should retain this status notwithstanding the subsequent dissolution of the family through separation, divorce, death, or the fact that the child reaches the age of majority.