A new report underscoring the situation of Palestinian refugees in the Israeli-occupied West Bank is slated to be issued by the Palestinian Return Centre (PRC).
Referring to the Duheisheh refugee camp, in the southern occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, the new report sheds the light on the socio-economic and political needs of Palestinian refugees.
The study points out the refugees’ inalienable rights, most notably the right to return to their homes, the right to psycho-physical protection, and the right to humanitarian assistance by UNRWA and other relief institutions.
It further sounds the alarm over the squalid humanitarian condition wrought on Palestinian refugee camps in the occupied West Bank and the stark discrepancy between the refugees’ aspirations and the status quo as a result of the military occupation of their land, internal Palestinian rift, and UNRWA’s funding crunch.
The report also highlights the absence of political representation and refugee advocacy along with the interconnectedness between the refugees’ political, social, and economic needs.
The study concludes that the Duheiseh refugee camp is witnessing a state of cultural and political pluralism which has given room to the refugees’ to work on establishing a popular representative council that will speak up for their priorities and aspiration.
The report proceeds along the case study method, a research approach that is used to generate an in-depth, multi-faceted understanding of a complex issue in its real-life context. It involves a range of empirical material collection tools in order to answer the research questions with maximum breadth.