Refugee Crisis of Palestine and Syria:

Its Environmental Impact on Host Countries

A TERM PAPER

Presented to
Prof. Marilou F.S Nanaman, Ph.D
Department Of Political Science
College of Arts and Social Sciences
Mindanao State University - Iligan Institute of Technology
A. Bonifacio Avenue, Tibanga, 9200, Iligan City

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirement for the Course
Political Science 125 B3 – Asian Political System
First Semester, AY. 2017-2018

Melchizdek B. Omandam #12

December 2017
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page

TABLE OF CONTENTS ………………………..…………………………...... i

CHAPTER

1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background of the Study …………………….. 1

1.2 Statement of the Problem ……………….…… 2
1.3 Objectives of the Study ………………...……. 2
1.4 Significance of the Study ……………….……. 2
1.5 Scope and Limitations ………………….……. 3
1.6 Conceptual Framework ………………………. 3
1.7 Operational Definition of Terms ……………... 4

2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE 5
2.1 Understanding Refugees……………………… 5
2.2 Yemeni Refugees……………………………….6
REFERENCES 19

i.
 CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

A refugee is someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because

of persecution, war, or violence (UNCHR). Discussions of the crisis often make the

implicit, and sometimes explicit, suggestion that taking in refugees is risky for the

host state’s security. An influential study found that hosting refugees increases the

likelihood that a state will experience its own civil conflict. Relatedly, other studies

have found a link between hosting refugees and the incidence of

both domestic and transnational terrorist attacks (Krcmaric, 2016). Hence, there is

some cause for concern, but the effects of refugee crisis is not only limited to what

has been said, other consequences are also crucial and therefore must be given

attention.

Refugee settlements also have negative impacts on the environment.

Temporary settlements “often occur in environmentally sensitive areas” where there

are large areas of “open” land, such as near national parks, forest reserves, or

agriculturally marginal areas (ODI HPN). Refugees often stay in their asylum

countries for long periods, having a prolonged impact on the environment.

Most significant problems include “deforestation, soil erosion, and depletion

and pollution of water resources” (UNCHR, 2001). Not only do the refugees have a

negative impact on the environment, but also the environmental deterioration has an

adverse impact on refugees. For instance, the resulting low-quality water from an

overload on the system can cause the spread of disease. Similarly, deforestation

from cutting down local trees for firewood can force women and children to walk furt
 her to acquire wood, leaving them vulnerable to assault can result in illness

from
lower cooking times for boiling water, and can lead to malnutrition due to the sale of

rations for cooking fuel (ODI HPN). The environmental impacts also affect “the social

and economic welfare of local communities following the arrival…of refugees. These

too may impact the environment, altering the rate and extent of local services

available to people” (Refugee and the Environment).

Reversing this environmental harm is often costly and impractical; therefore,

limiting the damage by studying on the specific environmental impacts and coming

with alternatives and recommendations is essential and is the purpose of this study.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

1.2.1. What is a refugee?

1.2.2. What are the causes of the citizens of Palestine and Syria becoming

refugees?

1.2.3. Where are the refugees of Palestine and Syria taking refuge?

1.2.4 What are the impacts of the refugee crisis in the environment?

1.2 Objective of the Study

This study aims to evaluate and examine the refugee crisis of Palestine and

Syria – the cause of its citizens becoming refugees, and the place where they are

taking refuge. Most importantly, this study aims to determine the environmental

impacts of the refugee crisis.

1.3 Significance of the Study

This study may be significant for the following:

2
 1.3.1. United Nations High Commission for Refugees and other

stakeholders. This study may provide necessary data crucial to assessment of

the environmental impacts of refugee crisis and how to prevent it.

1.3.2. Academe and future researches. This study may provide the

necessary data when conducting researches and may invite future researchers to

gain interest and adopt this study and enhance it further.

1.4 Scope and Limitations of the Study

The researcher limits the study on the refugee crisis of Palestine and Syria, the

causes of its citizens becoming refugees, the place where the citizens are taking

refuge and the impacts of refugee settlements to the environment. This study will not

include refugee crisis relating to other countries, aside from aforementioned,

generating refugees.

1.5 Conceptual Framework

Palestine Syria

Causes Causes

REFUGEE
Place of Place of
Refuge CRISIS Refuge

ENVIRONMENTAL
IMPACTS

3
Figure 1.5.1 shows the schematic relationship of the different variables in this

research. Environmental Impacts is dependent on the refugee crisis of Palestine and

Syria.

1.6 Operational Definition of Terms

Refugee. Refugees are persons fleeing armed conflict or persecution, and crossing

international borders(Rothman, 2015). In this study, the researcher used refugee

referring to the same definition aforementioned.

Refugee Crisis. In this study, the researcher used the definition provided by the

UNCHR for refugee crisis, this can refer to movements of large groups of displaced

people, who could be either internally displaced persons, refugees or other migrants.

It can also refer to incidents in the country of origin or departure, to large problems

whilst on the move or even after arrival in a safe country that involve large groups of

displaced persons, asylum seekers or refugees.

Environmental Impacts. Possible adverse effects caused by a development,

industrial, or infrastructural project or by the release of a substance in the

environment (Businessdictionary.com). In this study, the researcher used

environmental impacts to refer to the adverse effects on environment caused by the

refugee settlements in specific areas.

4
 CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

2.1 Understanding Refugee Crisis

Refugees are persons fleeing armed conflict or persecution. There were 21.3

million of them worldwide at the end of 2015. Their situation is often so perilous and

intolerable that they cross national borders to seek safety in nearby countries, and

thus become internationally recognized as "refugees" with access to assistance from

States, UNHCR, and other organizations (UNCHR, 2016). The definition goes back

to an earlier international refugee crisis: the one that followed World War II, but

refugee crisis still is happening up to the present and one of the challenges faced

globally.

2.2 Yemeni Refugees

About two million people have been displaced because of the war in Yemen,

267,675 of which are registered refugees as of February 26, 2016 according to the

UNHCR: The UN Agency. Before the war began in Yemen, poverty was already an

issue for many in the country and it was the poorest nation in the Arabian Peninsula

before the war. The war has only caused the number to rise. Refugees have been

fleeing to neighboring countries, with Saudi Arabia taking in the largest amount of

Yemen refugees. Many have also ended up in refugee camps. Al Kharaz is a

refugee camp in the southwest region of Yemen near the Gulf of Aden. More than

16,000 refugees live in this camp, with many from Somalia and Ethiopia, according

to UNHCR.
2.3 Somali Refugees

Somalia is the country generating the third highest number of refugees in the

world, after Afghanistan and Iraq. The refugee crisis in Somalia was a direct result

of civil outbreaks and wars between rivaling warlords, these wars have lead to the

deaths of more than 1 million people. As at 16th May 2013, there were 1,023,722

Somali refugees in the region, mainly hosted in Kenya, Yemen, Egypt, Ethiopia,

Eritrea, Djibouti, Tanzania and Uganda and over 1.1 million Somalis internally

displaced within the country, settled mainly in the South-Central region. 11,516

Somalis have so far sought refuge in neighboring countries in 2013. In the month of

April, 15,000 movements were reported in different areas in Somalia due to

insecurity, floods, IDP evictions as well as cross-border movements. 920 movements

have also been recorded so far in May (UNHCR Somali Factsheet, 2013).

Refugees are defined and protected in international law, the 1951 Refugee

Convention and its 1967 Protocol as well as other legal texts, such as the 1969 OAU

Refugee Convention is the cornerstone of modern refugee protection. The protection

of refugees has many aspects. These include safety from being returned to the

dangers they have fled; access to asylum procedures that are fair and efficient; and

measures to ensure that their basic human rights are respected to allow them to live

in dignity and safety while helping them to find a longer-term solution. States bear

the primary responsibility for this protection (UNCHR, 2016). However, host states

do not only bear responsibility for the protection of the refugees but also bear the

impacts of the refugee crisis in its environment. There are no numerous studies in

determining the environmental impacts of refugee crisis, this study however sheds

light and suffice to the gap in literature.

6
 CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY

3.1 Research Design

This study focuses on the comparison of the refugee crisis of countries

Palestine and Syria in terms of the causes of its citizens becoming refugees, the

place where the citizens are taking refuge and the impacts of refugee settlements to

the environment. The research approach is non-experimental, qualitative and

quantitative, and uses secondary data, which are based on articles retrieved.

3.2 Data Gathering Instrument

This study has found the most appropriate methods to use for it as a fact-

finding method that involves adequate and accurate interpretation of findings.

Examining the refugee crisis of Palestine and Syria in terms of the causes of

its citizens becoming refugees, the place where the citizens are taking refuge and

the impacts of refugee settlements to the environment made up the qualitative and

quantitative approach of the study

3.3 Data Gathering Procedure

In order to assess and the compare the refugee crisis of Palestine and Syria,

the researcher was able to gather the necessary data by applying the descriptive

and numerical analysis of data in the method using qualitative and quantitative

approach. Gathering data as to the causes of the citizens of Palestine and Syria

becoming refugees was the first thing to do to understand and form comparisons.

Subsequently, so as to come about the place to where the citizens are taking refuge
and the impacts of the settlements in the environment, this qualitative and

quantitative approach is correspondingly used as data will be given.

3.4 Locale of the Study

Image Source: https://www.google.com.ph/search? map+of+palestine+simplemap+of+Palestine

Figure 3.4.1 Map of Palestine.

3.4.1 PALESTINE. (Arabic: ‫ فلسطين‬Filasṭīn), officially the State of

Palestine (Arabic: ‫فلسطين‬ ‫ دولة‬Dawlat Filasṭīn), is a de jure sovereign state in

the Middle East claiming the West Bank (bordering Israel and Jordan) and Gaza

Strip (bordering Israel and Egypt) with East Jerusalem as the designated capital

although its administrative center is located in Ramallah. Most of the areas claimed

by the State of Palestine have been occupied by Israel since 1967 in the

consequence of the Six-Day War.[8] The population is 4,550,368 as of 2014, ranked

123rd in the world.

8
Image Source: https://www.google.com.ph/search? map+of+syria+simplemap+of+Syria

Figure 3.4.2 Map of Syria.

3.4.2 SYRIA. (Arabic: ‫ سوريا‬Sūriyā), officially known as the Syrian Arab

Republic(Arabic: ‫ الجمهورية العربية السورية‬al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a

country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the

west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the

southwest. The western two-thirds of Syria′s Golan Heights are since 1967 occupied

by Israel and were in 1981 effectively annexed by Israel,[8][9] whereas the eastern

third is controlled by Syria, with the UNDOF maintaining a buffer zone in between, to

implement the ceasefire of the Purple Line. Syria's capital and largest city

is Damascus.

3.5 Treatment of Data

The purpose of employing the findings and procedures is to obtain empirical

data on the certain existing condition of both Palestine and Syria. This study will

extensively depend on the methods and procedures done in order to acquire the

data that will be analyzed and interpreted on the problem. To be able to meet the

conclusion, the data gathered should be present for it will help in giving it purpose

and strength as it will then be truthful and analytical. All these will help in the

processing of the data and the formulation of conclusions.

9
 CHAPTER 4
FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

4.1 Palestine

Palestine refugees are defined, 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 Israel created in 1948”

(UNRWA, 2017) and as a result also of the second largest event in Palestine that

took place during the war in 1967 where Israel launched on its Arab neighbors

which resulted in the occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank (MIFTAH,

2013). The Palestinian refugee problem arose from a systematic policy of ethnic

dispossession and elimination, the results of which are apparent in the Palestinian

refugee camps and in the Palestinian Shatat (exile).

Palestinians are the largest and longest suffering group of refugees in the

world. One in three refugees worldwide is Palestinian. There are about 7.2 million

Palestinian refugees worldwide. More than 4.3 million Palestinian refugees and

their descendents displaced in 1948 are registered for humanitarian assistance

with the United Nations (MIFTAH, 2013). More than half the refugee population

lives in Jordan. Approximately 37.7% live in the West Bank and Gaza Strip,

comprising about 50 percent of the population in those areas. About 15% live in

almost equal numbers in Syria and Lebanon. The remaining refugee population

lives throughout the world, including the rest of the Arab world. Of the 4.3 million

refugees registered with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA),

33% live in UNRWA’s 59 recognized refugee camps throughout the West Bank

and Gaza Strip, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. (UNRWA, 2017).

 Socioeconomic conditions in the camps are generally poor, with high

population density, cramped living conditions and inadequate basic infrastructure

such as roads and sewers. Living conditions within the camps are often

characterized by limited resources, which cause the inhabitants to depend on the

environment in ways they normally would not. Typically, environmental

considerations are put aside while refugees deal with health and education

deficiencies even though these humanitarian concerns are intricately linked to

environmental ones.

Environmental degradation impacts lives of refugees in a number of ways,

further increasing their difficulties. Deforestation near the camps is the most

obvious example of environmental degradation. Refugees often demand firewood

at a rate that the environment cannot replenish, causing the refugees, often

women and children, to search increasingly further away, putting them at

increased risk of violent attack (Cook, 2013). Continued overuse of resources,

regardless of the crisis, is unsustainable and can only lead to more struggle.

4.2 Syria

An estimated 11 million Syrians have fled their homes since the outbreak of

the civil war in March 2011. Now, in the sixth year of war, 13.5 million are in need

of humanitarian assistance within the country. Among those escaping the conflict,

the majority have sought refuge in neighbouring countries or within Syria itself.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 4.8

million have fled to Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Iraq, Meanwhile about

one million have requested asylum to Europe. Germany, with more than 300,000

11
cumulated applications, and Sweden with 100,000, are EU’s top receiving

countries (Syrian Refugees.eu).

As of March 16, 2016, there were over a million Syrian refugees registered

in Lebanon (Syrian Refugee Response). According to the Lebanon Environmental

Assessment of the Syrian Conflict in September 2014, there has been an increase

of 15.7% in the amount of solid waste since the influx of refugees and increased

pollution of surface and ground water (RoL and the EU, 2014). Humanitarian

agencies in Lebanon have attributed diarrheal disease with the poor water quality,

which contained bacteriological levels ten times higher than the WHO guidelines

(Sorgel, 2015). Lebanon has also studied the effects of the refugee settlements

on fragile ecosystems. Settling in these areas increases the risks of illegal and

unsanitary disposal of solid waste leading to water resource pollution and

intensifies the demand for fuel and firewood placing pressure on forest reserves.

In Jordan, there are over 636,000 Syrian refugees registered, exacerbating

the water shortage (Syrian Refugee Response). A report from the U.S. News and

World Report reported, “the influx of refugees cost Jordan roughly $2.4 billion and

has strained the country’s limited water supply” (Sorgel, 2015). The BBC

explained that in Jordan, “every drop of water is precious and some Jordanians

have this perception—whether it is true or not—that Syrians maybe do not

conserve water as best they could…(BBC, 2013). The environmental impacts of

the refugee influx in Lebanon and Jordan have largely been ignored by the media,

as well as the UNHCR, whose last Environmental Impact Assessment in Lebanon

was in 2014.

12
4.3 Levels of Analysis

The refugee crisis of Palestine and Syria are two of the major crises known

worldwide. Both the two separate refugee crises have their similarities. First, the

cause of its citizens, respectively, becoming refugees was because of war. It was a

result of Israel creation in 1948” (UNRWA, 2017) and a result of the second largest

event in Palestine, that took place during the war in 1967 where Israel launched on

its Arab neighbors which resulted in the occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West

Bank (MIFTAH, 2013) for Palestine; and the outbreak of the civil war in March 2011

for Syria. Second, despite the difference in the number refugees respectively – 7.2

million for Palestine, and 13.5 million for Syria- and being spread throughout its

several neighboring countries, the two refugees are the same in terms of the

countries accepting them as refugees such as Lebanon and Jordan.

However, despite the similarities between the two crises there is a difference

in the degree of extensiveness in the assessment of the impacts of the two refugee

crises towards the environment, therefore resulting to differing in the data of known

environmental impacts. In the case of Palestine, only a few and general impacts are

known: living conditions within the camps are often characterized by limited

resources ; deforestation near the camp, environmental degradation, and a very high

demand firewood at a rate that the environment cannot replenish. In the case of

Syria on the other hand: increase of 15.7% in the amount of solid waste; increased

pollution of surface and ground water ; diarrheal disease with the poor water quality,

which contained bacteriological levels ten times higher than the WHO guidelines;

water resource pollution and intensifies the demand for fuel and firewood placing

pressure on forest reserves; and strained the country’s limited water supply.”

13
 CHAPTER 5
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

5.1 Summary

The overriding purpose of this study was to determine the environmental

impacts of the refugee crisis of Palestine and Syria; and compare and contrast the

causes of its citizens respectively becoming refugees, and the places where the

same, respectively, are taking refuge. To accomplish the goal it became necessary

to reach some prerequisite goals. Determining what refugee, refugee crisis is and

how it relates in the context of Yemen and Somalia assumed a high degree of

importance during the literature review of this research paper. Related to that effort,

it became necessary to reach an understanding about refugee and its brief history.

To provide for the possibility that construction could be perceived and measured as a

viable component of these philosophical constructs, it was important to develop a

model with the potential for encompassing the totality of the similarities and

differences in the two countries’ terrorist groups. Once these fundamental steps were

achieved, this research was able to go forward. This chapter reports the conclusions

and recommendations that resulted from this study.

5.2 Conclusions

In answer to the statement of the problem of this study, the research

determined the refugee crisis of Palestine and Syria are two of the major crises

known worldwide. Both the two separate refugee crises have their similarities. First,

the cause of its citizens, respectively, becoming refugees was because of war. It was

a result of Israel creation in 1948” (UNRWA, 2017) and a result of the second largest

event in Palestine, that took place during the war in 1967 where Israel launched on
its Arab neighbors which resulted in the occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West

Bank (MIFTAH, 2013) for Palestine; and the outbreak of the civil war in March 2011

for Syria. Second, despite the difference in the number refugees respectively – 7.2

million for Palestine, and 13.5 million for Syria- and being spread throughout its

several neighboring countries, the two refugees are the same in terms of the

countries accepting them as refugees such as Lebanon and Jordan.

However, despite the similarities between the two crises there is a difference

in the degree of extensiveness in the assessment of the impacts of the two refugee

crises towards the environment, therefore resulting to differing in the data of known

environmental impacts. In the case of Palestine, only a few and general impacts are

known: living conditions within the camps are often characterized by limited

resources ; deforestation near the camp, environmental degradation, and a very high

demand firewood at a rate that the environment cannot replenish. In the case of

Syria on the other hand: increase of 15.7% in the amount of solid waste; increased

pollution of surface and ground water ; diarrheal disease with the poor water quality,

which contained bacteriological levels ten times higher than the WHO guidelines;

water resource pollution and intensifies the demand for fuel and firewood placing

pressure on forest reserves; and strained the country’s limited water supply.”

15
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16
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