Geneva - The Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) delivered an oral statement during the discussion under Item 2 at the 61st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, held between 23 February and 31 March 2026, within the interactive dialogue with the High Commissioner for Human Rights on his report concerning the Occupied Palestinian Territory, submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 58/2.

In its statement, PRC welcomed the High Commissioner’s report, noting that the widespread destruction and mass displacement documented cannot be viewed as isolated events, but rather as part of a long-standing system of apartheid and institutionalised domination imposed on the Palestinian people.

The Centre stressed that the continued denial of the Palestinian refugees’ Right of Return represents the legal root cause of the ongoing crisis. It warned that ignoring this right perpetuates decades of protracted displacement. PRC further cautioned that current developments reflect attempts at demographic engineering, aimed at forcing Palestinians out of their land while simultaneously undermining the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), thereby seeking to liquidate the refugee issue and block any future return.

PRC emphasised that ongoing displacement in Gaza and the West Bank cannot be halted without a political and legal commitment to guaranteeing the Right of Return, warning that merely documenting violations without addressing their root causes will allow the cycle of dispossession to continue.

The Centre therefore urged the Human Rights Council to establish a clear accountability framework addressing forcible transfer and the denial of return, and called for the protection of UNRWA’s mandate as an essential safeguard for Palestinian refugee rights until a just solution is achieved.

PRC concluded by stressing that accountability must be monitored and implemented, not merely recorded.

Watch the statement:

https://youtu.be/N49F3R__VF4