Palestinian refugee camps were first established to accommodate Palestinians who were displaced by the 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight during the 1948 Palestine war. Camps were established by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. A subsequent wave of Palestinian refugees were created in the Naksa after the Six-Day War in 1967.
There are 68 Palestinian refugee camps in total, 58 official and 10 unofficial, ten of which were established after the Six-Day War while the others were established in 1948 to 1950s.
Only a third of registered Palestinian refugees live within the boundaries of the refugee camps.
The number of registered Palestine refugees grew from 750,000 in 1950 to around 5 million in 2013.
History
<gallery mode="packed" heights="180px">
File:Nahr al-Bared refugee camp 1952.webp|Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in Lebanon, 1952
File:Shatila - street view (3).jpg|Shatila refugee camp on the outskirts of Beirut in 2019
</gallery>
Role of UNRWA
UNRWA's mandate is to provide assistance to Palestinian refugees, including access to its refugee camps. For this purpose, it defines Palestinian refugees as "persons whose normal place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948, and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict."
|-
! Rafah
| 1949 || Gaza Strip || UNRWA || || 125,304 || n.a. || n.a. || ||
|-
! Baqa'a
| 1968 || Jordan || UNRWA || || 119,000 || 1.4 || 85,000 || ||
|-
! Jabalia
| 1948 || Gaza Strip || UNRWA || || 113,990 || 1.4 || 81,421 || ||
|-
! Khan Yunis
| 1949 || Gaza Strip || UNRWA || || 87,816 || 0.549 || 159,956 || ||
|-
! Al-Shati (Beach camp)
| 1948 || Gaza Strip || UNRWA || || 85,628 || 0.52 || 164,669 || ||
|-
! Nuseirat
| 1949 || Gaza Strip || UNRWA || || 80,194 || n.a. || n.a. || ||
|-
! Ain al-Hilweh
| 1948 || Lebanon || UNRWA || || 59,660 || 0.3 || 198,867 || ||
|-
! Al-Wehdat refugee camp (Amman New Camp)
| 1955 || Jordan || UNRWA || || 57,000 || 0.48 || 118,750 || ||
|-
! Marka
| 1968 || Jordan || UNRWA || || 53,000 || 0.92 || 57,609 || ||
|-
! Jaramana
| 1948 || Syria || UNRWA || || 49,000 || 0.03 || 1,633,333 || ||
|-
! Latakia
| 1955–6 || Syria || Unofficial || || 47,400 || 0.22 || 215,455 || ||
|-
! Bureij
| 1949 || Gaza Strip || UNRWA || || 43,330 || 0.529 || 81,909 || ||
|-
! Rashidieh
| 1963 || Lebanon || UNRWA || || 34,584 || 0.25 || 138,336 || ||
|-
! Maghazi
| 1949 || Gaza Strip || UNRWA || || 31,329 || 0.6 || 52,215 || ||
|-
! Jerash
| 1968 || Jordan || UNRWA || || 29,000 || 0.75 || 38,667 || ||
|-
! Irbid
| 1951 || Jordan || UNRWA || || 28,000 || 0.24 || 116,667 || ||
|-
! Balata
| 1950 || West Bank || UNRWA || || 27,000 || 0.25 || 108,000 || ||
|-
! Deir al-Balah
| 1948 || Gaza Strip || UNRWA || || 25,569 || 0.16 || 159,806 || ||
|-
! Husn (Martyr Azmi el-Mufti camp)
| 1968 || Jordan || UNRWA || || 25,000 || 0.77 || 32,468 || ||
|-
! Burj el-Shamali
| 1955 || Lebanon || UNRWA || || 24,929 || 0.134 || 186,037 || ||
|-
! Qabr Essit
| 1967 || Syria || UNRWA || || 23,700 || 0.02 || 1,185,000 || ||
|-
! Tulkarm
| 1950 || West Bank || UNRWA || || 21,500 || 0.18 || 119,444 || ||
|-
! Beddawi
| 1955 || Lebanon || UNRWA || || 21,252 || 0.2 || 106,260 || ||
|-
! Bourj el-Barajneh
| 1948 || Lebanon || UNRWA || || 19,539 || 0.104 || 187,875 || ||
|-
! Askar
| 1950 || West Bank || UNRWA || || 18,500 || 0.119 || 155,462 || ||
|-
! Al-Nayrab
| 1948 || Syria || UNRWA || || 18,000 || 0.15 || 120,000 || ||
|-
! Dheisheh
| 1949 || West Bank || UNRWA || || 15,000 || 0.33 || 45,455 || ||
|-
! Qalandia
| 1949 || West Bank || UNRWA || || 14,800 || 0.42 || 35,238 || ||
|-
! Al-Hassan
| 1967 || Jordan || Unofficial || || 14,068 || n.a. || n.a. || ||
|-
! Jenin
| 1953 || West Bank || UNRWA || || 14,000 || 0.42 || 33,333 || ||
|-
! Jalazone
| 1949 || West Bank || UNRWA || || 13,000 || 0.253 || 51,383 || ||
|-
! Al-Sabinah
| 1948 || Syria || UNRWA || || 13,000 || 0.03 || 433,333 || ||
|-
! Homs
| 1949 || Syria || UNRWA || || 13,000 || 0.15 || 86,667 || ||
|-
! Khan Danoun
| 1950 || Syria || UNRWA || || 12,650 || 0.03 || 421,667 || ||
|-
! El Buss
| 1948 || Lebanon || UNRWA || || 12,281 || 0.08 || 153,513 || ||
|-
! Khan al-Shih
| 1949 || Syria || UNRWA || || 12,000 || 0.69 || 17,391 || ||
|-
! Shatila
| 1949 || Lebanon || UNRWA || || 10,849 || 0.04 || 271,225 || ||
|-
! Daraa
| 1950 || Syria || UNRWA || || 10,500 || 1.3 || 8,077 || ||
|-
! Fawwar
| 1949 || West Bank || UNRWA || || 9,500 || 0.27 || 35,185 || ||
|-
! Wavel
| 1948 || Lebanon || UNRWA || || 9,460 || 0.043 || 220,000 || ||
|-
! Aqabat Jaber
| 1948 || West Bank || UNRWA || || 8,600 || 1.67 || 5,150 || ||
|-
! Madaba Camp
| 1956 || Jordan || Unofficial || || 8,597 || n.a. || n.a. || ||
|-
! Talbieh Camp
| 1968 || Jordan || UNRWA || || 8,000 || 0.13 || 61,538 || ||
|-
! Ein Beit al-Ma' (Camp No. 1)
| 1950 || West Bank || UNRWA || || 7,500 || 0.045 || 166,667 || ||
|-
! Sokhna camp
| 1969 || Jordan || Unofficial || || 7,424 || n.a. || n.a. || sometimes transliterated 'Sakhna' or 'Sukhna' ||
|-
! Ein Al-Tal (also known as Handarat camp)
| 1962 || Syria || Unofficial || || n.a. || 0.16 || n.a. || Largely destroyed (was 7,000 population) ||
|-
! Nahr al-Bared
| 1949 || Lebanon || UNRWA || || 5,857 || 0.198 || 29,581 || Reconstructed, was 27,000 population ||
|-
! Dbayeh
| 1956 || Lebanon || UNRWA || || 4,591 || 0.084 || 54,655 || ||
|-
! 'Azza (Beit Jibrin)
| 1950 || West Bank || UNRWA || || 2,900 || 0.027 || 107,407 || ||
|-
! Deir 'Ammar Camp
| 1949 || West Bank || UNRWA || || 2,500 || 0.162 || 15,432 || ||
|-
! Qaddura camp
| 1948 || West Bank || Unofficial || || 1,558 || n.a. || n.a. || ||
|-
! Mar Elias refugee camp
| 1952 || Lebanon || UNRWA || || 725 || 0.0054 || 134,259 || ||
|}
Population statistics
The evolution of Palestinian refugee population is shown below:
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! !! 1950 !! 1960 !! 1970 !! 1980 !! 1990 !! 2000 !! 2004 !! 2009 !! 2018
|-
! Jordan
| 506,200 || 613,743 || 506,038 || 716,372 || 929,097 || 1,570,192 || 1,758,274 || 1,951,603 || 2,242,579
|-
! Lebanon
| 127,600 || 136,561 || 175,958 || 226,554 || 302,049 || 376,472 || 396,890 || 422,188 || 475,075
|-
! Syria
| 82,194 || 115,043 || 158,717 || 209,362 || 280,731 || 383,199 || 417,346 || 461,897 || 560,139
|-
! West Bank
| – || – || 272,692 || 324,035 || 414,298 || 583,009 || 675,670 || 762,820 || 846,465
|-
! Gaza Strip
| 198,227 || 255,542 || 311,814 || 367,995 || 496,339 || 824,622 || 938,531 || 1,073,303 || 1,421,282
|-
! Total registered refugees
| 914,221 || 1,120,889 || 1,425,219 || 1,844,318 || 2,422,514 || 3,737,494 || 4,186,711 || 4,671,811 || 5,545,540
|}
The number of Palestinian refugees living within the UNWRA registered area of operations is shown below, both those living in camps and those living outside camps: UNRWA's definition of Other Registered Persons refer to "those who, at the time of original registration did not satisfy all of UNRWA's Palestine refugee criteria, but who were determined to have suffered significant loss and/or hardship for reasons related to the 1948 conflict in Palestine; they also include persons who belong to the families of other registered persons."
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! !! Jordan !! Lebanon !! Syria !! West Bank !! Gaza Strip !! Total
|-
| Registered refugees || 2,242,579 || 475,075 || 560,139 || 846,465 || 1,421,282 || 5,545,540
|-
| Other registered people || 133,902 || 58,810 || 83,003 || 201,525 || 149,013 || 626,253
|-
| Total registered people || 2,376,481 || 533,885 || 643,142 || 1,047,990 || 1,570,295 || 6,171,793
|-
| Refugees living within official camp borders || 412,054 || 270,614 || 194,993 || 256,758 || 593,990 || 1,728,409
|-
| % living within camp borders || 18.4% || 57.0% || 34.8% || 30.3% || 41.8% || 31.2%
|}
See also
- List of extrajudicial killings and political violence in Lebanon
- Attacks on refugee camps in the Gaza war