4.8 million Palestinian refugees worldwide

Published today (updated) 20/06/2010 12:35

Bethlehem - Ma'an -

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) released a report on the status of Palestinian refugees around the world, in honor of the International Day of Refugees, marked on 20 June.

The current distribution of the 4.8 million registered Palestinian refugees, according to UNRWA, was 41.6% in Jordan, 23.2% in the Gaza Strip, 16.3% in the West Bank, 10.0% in Syria and 8.9% in Lebanon.

In the West Bank and Gaza, PCBS recorded, 41.8% of refugees were under the age of 15, and only 2.8% of the refugee population was over 65.

Birth rates were 4.9 per woman, and refugee populations in the West Bank and Gaza were recorded to have a 1.5% higher rate of disability than non-refugees in the area (6.4% and 4.9% respectively.)

Almost half of Palestinian refugees were below the poverty line in 2009, PCBS noted, with 47.7% relying on aid to survive, with a corresponding unemployment rate of 29.5%, almost ten percent higher than the non-refugee population.

Refugees, however, were 1.2 % more likely to be literate than non-refugees, with illiteracy rates at 4.9% and 5.7% respectively. Dropout rates show a similar trend, with 21.9% of refugees dropping out of school before the age of 18, compared to 27.3% of non-refugees.

Note:

Palestinians as a whole, refugees and non-refugees, have reached about 11 millions. Half of them are still in Palestine, particularly in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and the Jalil (Galilee). The other half are spreading around the world, particularly in Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.

Palestinian refugees are still dispossessed by Israeli Zionists who came mainly from Europe and other parts of the world, denying Palestinians their right to return to their homes and property.