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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> United Kingdom Asylum and Immigration Tribunal >> KK IH HE (Palestinians, Lebanon, camps) Palestine CG [2004] UKIAT 00293 (29 October 2004) URL: https://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKIAT/2004/00293.html Cite as: [2004] UKIAT 293, [2004] UKIAT 00293 |
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KK IH HE (Palestinians – Lebanon – camps) Palestine CG [2004] UKIAT 00293
Date of hearing: 24 May 2004
Date Determination notified: 29 October 2004
| KK IH HE | APPELLANT |
| and | |
| Secretary of State for the Home Department | RESPONDENT |
Immigration History
The First Appellant
The Second Appellant
The Third Appellant
The Bases of the claims, the facts as found and the issues at large
The First Appellant
Second Appellant
"It is an entirely understandable decision on his part for it is clear that the Palestinian refugees living in camps in Lebanon do so in conditions in which there is an almost total disregard for human rights".
Notwithstanding that, as a result of the adverse credibility finding, the Adjudicator decided that 'H' was not a refugee. On the subject of human rights, he also rejected the claim that it would be a breach of 'H's rights under Article 3 ECHR to return him. He rejected the submissions made on his behalf on the basis that, if correct, every Palestinian from the camps in Lebanon would be entitled to claim the protection of the European Convention in any state in the European Union. The Adjudicator said he could find no evidence that had been established to be the position.
The Third Appellant
General preliminary observation
Evidence of Dr George
Syria
.
Evidence of Mr Joffe
Syria
but also as it existed in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, at least until recently. The Lebanese state could provide no security and did not directly control the camps and the Lebanese army and the police did not penetrate inside the camps which were under the control of the militias which led to a lot of insecurity. Outside the camps there were checkpoints manned by the Lebanese army and also controls and checkpoints manned by the Lebanese and the Syrians. The Palestinians were likely to face greater harassment and inconvenience than the usual Lebanese citizens. It depended upon where you were in Lebanon. Palestinians could not generally expect the normal security of a proper well run state. There was the risk of arbitrary arrest on account of being Palestinian. The Lebanese government did not allow Palestinians to acquire a sense of permanence in Lebanon and there was a greater degree of discrimination than that experienced by other groups.
Submissions for 'H' and 'K'
Submissions for 'E'
Submissions for the Secretary of State
Response by Mr Southey
Response by Mr Cantor
Findings of the Tribunal
The general position for Palestinians in Lebanon
Syria
, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and the other two-thirds live in and around the cities and towns of the host countries, often in the environs of official camps. Paragraph 6.21 of the Home Office Country Information Bulletin on Lebanon of February 2004, taking information from the Lebanon Refugee Camp Profiles of November 2003 which seems to be a UNRWA document, states that the UNRWA runs some seventy-nine schools with approximately 42,259 enrolled pupils in the 2001-2002 academic year in Lebanon. It also says that the agency also operates twenty-five primary health care facilities in Lebanon and it provides emergency aid to families unable to support themselves.
Syria or the other countries available to Lebanese nationals. This same point can be made with regard to rights to social security. Again, Palestinians cannot qualify, given their inability to provide reciprocity of treatment, but again we are unclear as to the situation with regard to nationals of other states working in Lebanon. As regards the purchase of land, as we have noted above, it is clear that Palestinians do not have a right to do so in Lebanon or indeed to inherit land. It appears, however, that all nationals of recognised states can acquire or inherit property in Lebanon, according to page 5 of the Amnesty document, and there is clear discrimination in that regard. It is said in the State Department report at page 86 of Mr Southey's bundle that the Lebanese Parliament has justified this law on the grounds that it is protecting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to the homes from which they fled after the creation of the State of Israel in 1948. It is also said in this regard that other foreigners may own a limited size plot of land but only after obtaining the approval of five different district officers, and that the law applies to all foreigners but it is applied in a manner disadvantageous to the 25,000 Kurds in the country.
The general position for Palestinians in Lebanon under the RC and ECHR
'Developing countries with due regard to human rights and their national economy, may determine to what extent they would guarantee the economic rights recognised in the present Covenant to non-nationals.'
Second Appellant – Credibility
DECISIONS
First Appellant
The appeal is dismissed
Second Appellant
The appeal is allowed to the extent that it is remitted for a fresh hearing before an Adjudicator other than Mr D.M. Wynn-Simpson.
Third Appellant
The appeal is dismissed