This chapter critically examines the distinctive institutional and normative regime created by the UN for the Palestinian refugees in the immediate aftermath of the Nakba in the form of the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. It juxtaposes that regime against the international institutional and normative regime applicable to all other refugees in the world, as administered by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The special regime for Palestinian refugees is widely regarded as reflective of the UN’s unique responsibility for their plight. Yet, a critical examination of the UN record on the early history, mandate, and regulatory framework underpinning this regime reveals that it was never intended to give effect to Palestinian refugee rights as established under prevailing international law, including as affirmed by the UN itself. The resulting ‘protection gap’ that has consequently emerged for Palestinian refugees, marked by uneven and confused state practice concerning their plight as well as ongoing gender discrimination against them by the UN, is demonstrative of the Organization’s role in the maintenance of Palestinian legal subalternity on the international plane.

This chapter draws an outline how scholars from myriad disciplines (including law, anthropology, political science, history, geography, international relations, philosophy, psychology and economics), UN institutions and refugees approach and understand the notion of refuge. I also highlight the discrepancies between these ideas and the reality. I ask the gender question by exploring what women are seeking when they search for refuge as well as the nature of refuge sought by children and refugees with disabilities. I show that the concept of refuge is a robust one. There are different approaches to theorising refuge, but there is a shared understanding that it has restorative, regenerative and palliative functions that address refugees’ past, present and future. Refuge operates as a response to the particular dilemmas of those in need of protection and is variously expressed as a remedy, right, duty, process and status. It has a broad and flexible scope that responds to the specific needs of women, children and refugees with disabilities. The threshold for adequate refuge is a high one, encompassing much more than mere survival. However, many people who seek protection find themselves in places where the conditions may be comparable to or worse than the places they fled.

The British devised a variety of schemes to try to make their Palestine mandate work before they threw up their hands and gave in. During the lead-up to World War II the British proposed dividing the territory between Jews and Arabs. Then when the Great Revolt threatened to spiral out of control they gave up that plan and offered one that would lead to a single state. During World War II, conditions in Palestine actually improved, and the situation temporarily calmed. But with the end of hostilities and an upsurge in Zionist violence, the British dumped the Palestine issue on the United Nations, which voted to divide the territory. The vote sparked two wars: the first, a civil war between the Jewish and Arab communities of Palestine; the second, an invasion of Palestine by surrounding states. The victory of the Zionists in both had two results: the creation of the State of Israel in its internationally accepted borders, and the nakba, the flight of 720,000 Palestinians across ceasefire lines. Many of the refugees and their descendants remain in refugee camps throughout the area supported by the United Nations and various donor states and organizations.