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Palestinska flyktingars särskilda flyktingsstatus - En studie av den moderna tolkningen av andra stycket i artikel 1 D i flyktingkonventionen ur ett EU-rättsligt perspektiv.

Lundberg, Edvin LU (2022) LAGF03 20221
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract (Swedish)
Enligt flyktingkonventionen har inte alla flyktingar rätt till flyktingstatus. Palestinska flyktingar, som åtnjuter skydd eller bistånd från UNRWA, hör till de som exkluderas från konventionens tillämpningsområde. Intentionen med artikel 1 D var inte att dem inte förtjänar samma skydd som andra flyktingar – tvärtom infördes bestämmelsen för att garantera palestinska flyktingar ett kontinuerligt skydd. För att säkerställa bestämmelsens syfte och ändamål konstruerades bestämmelsen om exkluderingen inte som konstant. Den kan under vissa omständigheter upphöra och möjliggöra för en palestinsk flykting att åtnjuta flyktingkonventionens förmåner. Det scenariot aktualiseras då skyddet eller biståndet från UNRWA av någon anledning ska anses ha... (More)
Enligt flyktingkonventionen har inte alla flyktingar rätt till flyktingstatus. Palestinska flyktingar, som åtnjuter skydd eller bistånd från UNRWA, hör till de som exkluderas från konventionens tillämpningsområde. Intentionen med artikel 1 D var inte att dem inte förtjänar samma skydd som andra flyktingar – tvärtom infördes bestämmelsen för att garantera palestinska flyktingar ett kontinuerligt skydd. För att säkerställa bestämmelsens syfte och ändamål konstruerades bestämmelsen om exkluderingen inte som konstant. Den kan under vissa omständigheter upphöra och möjliggöra för en palestinsk flykting att åtnjuta flyktingkonventionens förmåner. Det scenariot aktualiseras då skyddet eller biståndet från UNRWA av någon anledning ska anses ha upphört. Tolkningen av vilka omständigheter som ska leda till att skyddet eller bistånd ska betraktas ha upphört har på senare tid utvecklats genom vägledande uttalanden från UNHCR och EU-domstolen.

Uppsatsen ämnar utreda och analysera gällande rätt med hjälp av en kritisk rättsdogmatisk metod. Utredningen visar att till skillnad från tidigare kan skyddet eller biståndet anses ha upphört för en enskild person till följd av omständigheterna i det enskilda fallet. Uttolkarna är vidare eniga om att följden av inkluderingsdelen tillämplighet ska resultera i att flyktingen ipso facto ska beviljas flyktingstatus. Det skapar i teorin förbättrade möjligheter för palestinska flyktingar att komma i åtnjutande av flyktingkonventionens förmåner men analysen visar att tolkningarna är restriktiva och att bestämmelsen endast aktualiseras under vissa särskilda förutsättningar. EU-domstolens tolkning av begreppen skydd och bistånd är begränsade till hot mot den fysiska överlevnaden och innefattar således inte andra potentiella otillräckligheter i UNRWA:s övriga skydds- och biståndsmandat. Detta riskerar att skapa ett tillstånd där en palestinsk flykting varken får sina rättigheter tillgodosedda av UNRWA eller av en stat som tillämpar denna tolkning vid en asylansökan. Uttolkningarna utvisar inte heller något förtydligande avseende omfattningen av det skydd eller bistånd som kan förväntas och med UNRWA:s underliggande risk för ekonomisk kollaps i åtanke är min uppfattning att den moderna tolkningen av artikeln äventyrar förverkligandet av artikelns ändamål och syfte. (Less)
Abstract
According to the Refugee Convention, not all refugees have the right to a refugee status. Palestinian refugees, who enjoy protection or assistance from UNRWA, are among those excluded from the scope of the Convention. The intention of Article 1 D, which was formulated in the travaux préparatoires to the Convention, was not to provide them of a lower level of protection than other refugees - on the contrary, the provision was introduced to guarantee Palestinian refugees continuous protection. In order to ensure the purpose of the provision, the exclusion is not constant. The exclusion may, under certain circumstances, be terminated and enable for a Palestinian refugee to enjoy the benefits of the Refugee Convention. This scenario occurs... (More)
According to the Refugee Convention, not all refugees have the right to a refugee status. Palestinian refugees, who enjoy protection or assistance from UNRWA, are among those excluded from the scope of the Convention. The intention of Article 1 D, which was formulated in the travaux préparatoires to the Convention, was not to provide them of a lower level of protection than other refugees - on the contrary, the provision was introduced to guarantee Palestinian refugees continuous protection. In order to ensure the purpose of the provision, the exclusion is not constant. The exclusion may, under certain circumstances, be terminated and enable for a Palestinian refugee to enjoy the benefits of the Refugee Convention. This scenario occurs when the protection or assistance from UNRWA is considered to have ceased for any reason. The interpretation of the article and the circumstances in which the protection or assistance should be considered to have ceased has recently been developed through new jurisprudence from the UNHCR and the European Court of Justice.

This paper aims to investigate and analyse the law using a critical legal dogmatics approach. It shows that in comparison with previous interpretation when an institutional perspective was applied, the UN protection or assistance is now, through the new jurisprudence, considered to be able to cease on an individual level, implying that the circumstances of an individual’s case are taken into account. In addition to this, the interpreters agrees that the termination of the exclusion from the Refugee Convention will lead to Palestinian refugees being automatically granted refugee status. In theory, this provides greater opportunities for Palestinian refugees to enjoy the benefits of the Refugee Convention, but the analysis shows that the assessment is restrictive and only a few Palestinian refugees will trigger the inclusionary paragraph. The interpretation by the European Court of Justice's adopts a narrow understanding of the meaning of the words ‘protection or assistance’ in article 1 D, that is restricted to physical survival and consequently does not include shortfalls attributable to other rights that follows UNRWA's protection and assistance mandates. Subsequently, those Palestinian refugees who are not enjoying the full extent of the protection or assistance that UNRWA is mandated to provide, might also not be able to enjoy the benefits of the Refugee Convention. This would leave them with no protection at all. Furthermore, neither the UNHCR nor the European Court of Justice discuss the extent of the protection or assistance, and with the imminent risk of UNRWA economically collapsing, my view is that the interpretations endanger the realization of the article's object and purpose. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Lundberg, Edvin LU
supervisor
organization
course
LAGF03 20221
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Folkrätt, EU-rätt, Migrationsrätt, Palestinska flyktingar, Flyktingkonventionen, UNRWA, Artikel 2 D, asylprocess
language
Swedish
id
9081240
date added to LUP
2022-06-28 10:51:00
date last changed
2022-06-28 10:51:00
@misc{9081240,
  abstract     = {{According to the Refugee Convention, not all refugees have the right to a refugee status. Palestinian refugees, who enjoy protection or assistance from UNRWA, are among those excluded from the scope of the Convention. The intention of Article 1 D, which was formulated in the travaux préparatoires to the Convention, was not to provide them of a lower level of protection than other refugees - on the contrary, the provision was introduced to guarantee Palestinian refugees continuous protection. In order to ensure the purpose of the provision, the exclusion is not constant. The exclusion may, under certain circumstances, be terminated and enable for a Palestinian refugee to enjoy the benefits of the Refugee Convention. This scenario occurs when the protection or assistance from UNRWA is considered to have ceased for any reason. The interpretation of the article and the circumstances in which the protection or assistance should be considered to have ceased has recently been developed through new jurisprudence from the UNHCR and the European Court of Justice. 

This paper aims to investigate and analyse the law using a critical legal dogmatics approach. It shows that in comparison with previous interpretation when an institutional perspective was applied, the UN protection or assistance is now, through the new jurisprudence, considered to be able to cease on an individual level, implying that the circumstances of an individual’s case are taken into account. In addition to this, the interpreters agrees that the termination of the exclusion from the Refugee Convention will lead to Palestinian refugees being automatically granted refugee status. In theory, this provides greater opportunities for Palestinian refugees to enjoy the benefits of the Refugee Convention, but the analysis shows that the assessment is restrictive and only a few Palestinian refugees will trigger the inclusionary paragraph. The interpretation by the European Court of Justice's adopts a narrow understanding of the meaning of the words ‘protection or assistance’ in article 1 D, that is restricted to physical survival and consequently does not include shortfalls attributable to other rights that follows UNRWA's protection and assistance mandates. Subsequently, those Palestinian refugees who are not enjoying the full extent of the protection or assistance that UNRWA is mandated to provide, might also not be able to enjoy the benefits of the Refugee Convention. This would leave them with no protection at all. Furthermore, neither the UNHCR nor the European Court of Justice discuss the extent of the protection or assistance, and with the imminent risk of UNRWA economically collapsing, my view is that the interpretations endanger the realization of the article's object and purpose.}},
  author       = {{Lundberg, Edvin}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Palestinska flyktingars särskilda flyktingsstatus - En studie av den moderna tolkningen av andra stycket i artikel 1 D i flyktingkonventionen ur ett EU-rättsligt perspektiv.}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}