DISPLACED WOMEN’S RIGHTS TO HOUSING, LAND AND PROPERTYNo Place Like Home: An Assessment of the Housing, Land and Property Rights of

Palestinian Refugee Women in Camps and Gatherings in Lebanon

Dalia Aranki - Programme Manager, NRC Lebanon

25 March 2014

NRC ICLA • Rights based humanitarian

intervention• Information Counseling and

Legal Assistance (ICLA) programs in 18 countries

• Legal assistance (formal and traditional systems)

• Focus on housing land and property (HLP) and specific assistance provided to women

No Place Like Home: An Assessment of the Housing, Land and Property Rights of Palestinian Refugee Women in Camps and Gatherings in Lebanon

Main purposes of the Assessment in Lebanon Identify the main housing, land and property (HLP) issues

affecting Palestinian refugee women. Examine the challenges faced in seeking enjoyment of their

HLP rights. Explore how the protection of these rights might be promoted

and strengthened Outline the challenges women encounter in attempting to

secure their HLP rights in Lebanon: owing to their status as refugees in Lebanon and,

owing to their particular circumstances as women.

Overview: Palestinian refugees in Lebanon

Under UNRWA’s mandate.

Live in official camps established and managed by UNRWA or in gatherings.

Not legally considered as owners of their homes.

Conflict in Syria - highlighted housing situation.

Formal context/Legal context

No rights to property – since 2001 (2001 Law) , Palestinian refugees are prohibited from having any legal right to property.

Lack of information/understanding – of the law and its consequences.

Informal system of buying/selling land – not recognised by Lebanese law.

Limited rehabilitation or improvements to housing permitted – legally required permits are almost impossible for individuals to obtain.

Lack of security of tenure – little legal protection against forced eviction/ risk of forced evictions at any time.

International legal obligations breached – although supercede national laws.

Customary practices within refugee camps and gatherings guided by strong patriarchal hierarchies.

Non-systematic or inconsistent way of dealing with Palestinian refugee women’s HLP rights.

Women’s HLP rights are not widely recognised as individuated or in need of specific protection.

Familial context

Case Study

Samar says: “They will not give me the right to go and live

there. They say that it is registered in

my husband’s name and I must

get his authorisation”.

No Place Like Home: An Assessment of the Housing, Land and Property Rights of Palestinian Refugee Women in Camps and Gatherings in Lebanon

RECOMMENDATIONS

Formal context Further understanding of the

impact of the 2001 Law. More efforts to advocate for

reform of the 2001 Law. Use of international law to

challenge the consequences of the 2001 Law.

Improved recognition of importance of HLP rights for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.

No Place Like Home: An Assessment of the Housing, Land and Property Rights of Palestinian Refugee Women in Camps and Gatherings in Lebanon

RECOMMENDATIONS

Familial context Further understanding of the

informal and customary mechanisms.

Raise awareness of access to HLP rights within the customary mechanisms.

Identify ways to strengthen access to HLP rights through customary mechanisms.

Support legal empowerment of Palestinian refugee women.

Next Steps

THANK YOUFor more information: womenshlp.nrc.no

www.nrc.no

www.nrc.no/syriaresponse