The National Human Rights Commission, including the Committee for the Prevention of Torture, in cooperation with the Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee, held the fourth session of its “Connecting for Rights” series, entitled: “The Rights of Palestine Refugees in Lebanon: Towards a Rights-Based Approach and More Equitable Policies.”
The meeting was attended by Banan Ghanem, Adviser at the Embassy of the State of Palestine in Beirut; Ghassan Abdallah, General Director of the Palestinian Human Rights Organization; Bassam Al Kantar, Commissioner for International Relations and Media at the National Human Rights Commission; lawyer Dr. Rana Al Jamal, Secretary of the Commission; Dr. Ali Mourad, Political and Legal Adviser to the Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee; Ziad Abdel Samad, Executive Director of the Arab NGO Network for Development and member of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council; and Kamal Shehadi, founder and Chair of the Administrative Board of Masar Association. Representatives of Lebanese and Palestinian human rights organizations, civil society institutions, camp committees, and Palestinian factions and organizations also participated, alongside activists, researchers, and stakeholders concerned with Palestine refugee issues.
The initiative forms part of the Commission’s efforts to promote dialogue and consultation among public institutions, Palestinian stakeholders, international organizations, and civil society. It also sought to explore practical measures to protect the rights of Palestine refugees and improve their legal, economic, and social conditions while safeguarding their human dignity, without undermining their right of return or allowing such improvements to be interpreted as permanent settlement.
National Commission: Guaranteeing Rights Is Not Incompatible with Rejecting Permanent Settlement
Bassam Al Kantar, Commissioner for International Relations and Media at the National Human Rights Commission, opened the interventions by presenting the Commission’s position paper on the legal status of Palestine refugees in Lebanon, entitled: “Towards an Approach Based on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights.”
Al Kantar stated that the continued legislative and administrative ambiguity surrounding the legal status of Palestine refugees could no longer be justified from either a human rights or good governance perspective. He stressed that rejecting permanent settlement, as a national constitutional and political position, did not permit the denial of the fundamental rights of people residing on Lebanese territory or turn economic, social, and civil rights into privileges exclusively linked to nationality.
He explained that improving living conditions and access to employment, education, healthcare, and adequate housing neither created an entitlement to Lebanese nationality nor undermined the right of return or altered the political and legal status of the Palestinian cause.
The Commission called for the adoption of a comprehensive legal framework that clearly defines Palestine refugees in Lebanon and determines their rights and obligations. Such a framework should explicitly distinguish between permanent settlement—understood as the collective granting of Lebanese nationality and the political rights reserved for citizens—and the enjoyment of human rights by refugees during their residence in Lebanon.
It also called for the removal of discriminatory restrictions in employment, social security, property ownership, and civil and professional organization; the regularization of the status of refugees without identification documents; improvements to services and infrastructure inside the camps; and greater refugee participation in decisions affecting their lives.
Al Kantar noted that the Commission’s position was grounded in the Lebanese Constitution, the international human rights framework, and Lebanon’s international obligations. It also drew upon the Unified Lebanese Vision on Palestine Refugee Issues, officially launched on 20 July 2017; the National Human Rights Action Plan for 2026–2030; and recommendations concerning Palestine refugees contained in the report of the Working Group on Lebanon’s Universal Periodic Review.
The Commission proposed a gradual and time-bound reform process led by the state and involving relevant institutions, refugees, civil society, and UNRWA, accompanied by clear monitoring and accountability indicators.
Al Kantar emphasized that addressing the legal status of Palestine refugees through a rights-based approach was neither a concession of sovereignty nor a step towards permanent settlement. Rather, it constituted a responsible exercise of sovereignty through law and public institutions.
He called on the constitutional authorities to move beyond the fragmented and temporary management of this issue, which has persisted for decades, and to adopt a coherent legal framework and a public implementation timetable. He also urged political parties, professional associations, Palestinian representatives, and civil society to engage in dialogue free from intimidation and inflammatory rhetoric.
Ali Mourad: Sovereignty Must Not Be Traded for Rights, and Rights Must Not Be Traded for Weapons
Dr. Ali Mourad, Political and Legal Adviser to the Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee, conveyed the greetings of the Committee’s President, Ambassador Ramez Dimashkieh, and offered an assessment of the reasons behind the lack of progress on refugees’ rights and the Committee’s role in the coming period.
Mourad explained that the relevant studies, figures, and proposed solutions were already well known, but that the absence of sufficient political will and persistent concerns regarding permanent settlement continued to obstruct progress. He noted that ongoing political transformations in Palestine, Lebanon, and the wider region would inevitably affect questions related to state sovereignty, the exclusive possession of arms, the legal status of refugees, and camp governance.
He explained that the Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee is the official body responsible for Palestine refugee affairs in Lebanon. Established in 2005 under the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, its mandate includes contributing to state policy, providing advice, and coordinating the work of ministries, public administrations, and security agencies concerned with this issue.
Mourad stated that the Lebanese government’s position on extending state authority across the entire national territory and ensuring the exclusive possession of arms by the state also applied to Palestinian weapons. He highlighted the significance of the meeting between Presidents Joseph Aoun and Mahmoud Abbas in Beirut on 21 May 2025, which opened a serious discussion on addressing Palestinian weapons while reaffirming the rejection of permanent settlement, the right of return, and the need to improve refugees’ living conditions and guarantee their rights.
He stressed that “sovereignty must not be traded for rights, and rights must not be traded for weapons.” The process of extending state sovereignty and the process of guaranteeing refugees’ rights could advance simultaneously, but neither should be made conditional upon the completion of the other. Refugees’ rights derive from the law and Lebanon’s international obligations and are not compensation for surrendering weapons.
Mourad pointed to continued setbacks in areas such as access to regulated professions and the registration of Palestinians with professional syndicates and associations. He also outlined the Committee’s efforts to address restrictions affecting Palestinian nurses and follow up on civil registry documents, fees, and equal treatment where permitted by law.
He discussed the stalled preparation of an advisory opinion by the Economic, Social and Environmental Council on Palestinian access to the labour market, explaining that political objections had obstructed the process. He affirmed that the Committee would continue working to complete the advisory opinion and return the issue of professions available to Palestinians to the policy agenda.
Mourad revealed that the Committee was currently working along two principal tracks. The first was a draft law regulating the legal status of Palestine refugees, which was largely complete. Property ownership had not been included because the current political environment did not allow it to be addressed within the draft, although the ma
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