accord. They were controlled by the Army and the «second bureau» until the late 1960s and later came under the control of the armed factions of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) until the 1982 Israeli invasion. In the second part of the 1980s, a blockade was imposed on the camps.
There has been widespread belief among the Lebanese and the Arabs that the number of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon may be as high as 500,000, or 400,000 by modest estimates. Indeed, Lebanese state records reveal that there were 592,711 Palestinian refugees registered in the Lebanese General Security registers, in December 2016, and 459,292 refugees registered with the UNRWA in March 2016.
The general population and housing census of Palestinian camps and gatherings in Lebanon carried out by the Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee (LPDC), the Central Administration of Statistics and the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics in 2017 found that there were only 174,422 Palestinian refugees residing in Lebanon and an additional 18,601 Palestinian refugees were displaced from Syria to Lebanon.
Those who question the veracity of these figures should know that:
1. This is a valid, comprehensive and qualitative census, which is the first of its kind and based on strong scientific base with high credibility.
The census was carried out by the Lebanese and Palestinian statistics bodies under the supervision of the LPDC. It covers all the residents of the 12 camps recognized by the Lebanese government, including their non-Palestinian residents. These camps are: Burj Barajneh, Shatila, Mar Elias, Dbayeh, Ein El Hilweh, Mieh Mieh, Rashidieh, El Buss, Burj Shemali, Wavel or Al Jalil, Nahr el-Bared and Beddawi, and the 156 Palestinian «gatherings». These gatherings were defined as informal settlements outside camp perimeters with 15 or more Palestinian households. They are divided into two groups: the gatherings bordering camps as a result of expansion, such as Nahr el-Bared in the North and Sabra-Tarik Jedida in Beirut, and other gatherings in villages and urban areas, which are vast areas that include suburbs of cities and towns, such as the Jal el Bahr gathering, Chouf villages and in the various quarters and old city of Saida.
More than 1,000 young men and women as well as many local, Palestinian, Lebanese and international experts were involved in this census. The census relied on advanced modern techniques, such as the use of tablets that are centrally linked to a sophisticated data-collection and monitoring system.
2. This census included all buildings; residential and non-residential units belonging to the Palestinian camps and gatherings on the Lebanese territory, and it developed a geographic information system for all buildings in Palestinian camps and gatherings.
3. Trained field teams from four levels were engaged: field researchers, team leaders, district coordinators and facilitators. The actual population count (of Palestinians, Lebanese, Syrians and Arabs) was carried out in all regions simultaneously between July 17 and July 30, 2017. The enumerators canvassed all households and asked more than 90 questions in a questionnaire covering the demographic, economic, scientific, social and housing features of the entire population.
4. The total population was found to be 237,614, a figure which includes, in addition to Palestinian refugees from Lebanon and Syria, 30,368 Syrians, 12,832 Lebanese and 1,390 other nationalities.
The distribution of Palestinians showed that 45% of them live inside the camps while 55% reside outside the camps, in the gathering and bordering areas. Palestinian refugees are distributed across the following places:
5. 4.9% of Palestinians hold a nationality other than the Palestinian nationality. 7.2% of the refugees are illiterate while 93.6% have been enrolled in schools between the ages of 3 and 13 or above. The rate of unemployment reached 18.4% and is higher among young people, reaching 28.5% for those between the ages of 20 and 29. Palestinians represent 72.8% of residents in the camps, with the rest of the population made up of Syrians, Lebanese and other Arab nationalities. The average household size is just 4 members. It is worth noting that the Palestinians have almost become a minority in some important camps, such as Shatila where they represent 29.7% of the population compared to 57.6% Syrians; Mar Elias where they represent 42.3% compared to 39% Syrians; Dbayeh where they are 42.8% compared to 38.9% Lebanese; and in Burj Barajneh where they are 44.8% compared to 47.9% Syrians.
6. Another debunked myth relates to the total number of Palestinians married to Lebanese women. There were only 3,707 such cases, or about 2% of the current residing Palestinian population of 174,422. The percentage of Palestinian women married to Lebanese was under 1%, with a total number of 1,219 cases only.
In conclusion, there must be an explanation for such a low number of Palestinian refugees. There is no doubt that the reasons involve, first and foremost, the general policies adopted by the Lebanese State, the tightening the noose on employment, housing, education, health and all ways of life, in addition to the impact of the civil war and siege of the Palestinians in the camps, especially in the 1980s. These factors have prompted the Palestinian refugees to leave Lebanon and seek asylum abroad, so that the number dropped to include those who were left stranded in Lebanon or those who chose to remain in Lebanon despite all the hardships.
In this sense, this census is an opportunity for the Lebanese government to reconsider its policies towards Palestinian refugees and to amend the legislation to allow rights for employment, property ownership, education and mobility, and to preserve their civil and human rights. These issues will form the heart of LPDC’s work in the coming period.