The right to return for Palestinian refugees: A crisis of recognition under international law

Abou Salem, Hanin 2021. The right to return for Palestinian refugees: A crisis of recognition under international law. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University. Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

This thesis examines the right to return for Palestinian refugees in international law. Hannah Arendt’s conception of rights, which identifies the possession of nationality as a pre-condition for accessing abstract human rights, supplies the theoretical basis for our examination. Arendt’s insight leads us to conclude that there is no fundamental right to return but only the right of sovereign States to extend such a right. The sources for the right to return in international law support this conclusion because sovereign States have a right to restrict entry to their territories. Therefore, when States refuse to readmit refugees the international framework governing refugees and stateless persons advocates ending their plight through local integration and resettlement. This thesis reveals that these durable solutions define refugees legally out of existence and can turn their right to return into a right of no return. These findings constitute an important contribution to the existing discourse on the right of return for Palestinian refugees by revealing that Palestinian refugees cannot return to Israel without Israel’s consent. This thesis also constitutes a novel contribution to the existing discourse by revealing that Palestinian refugees who are excluded from the international framework governing refugees and stateless persons can be impacted by the existing framework because members of the League of Arab States have adopted international conventions, regional agreements and nationality provisions which can pave the way for the integration and naturalization of Palestinian refugees in their territories. This thesis concludes that the right to return is an abstract right and that the international framework governing refugees and stateless persons can define Palestinian refugees out of existence and eradicate their right to return. Therefore, a new international framework should be established that places the right to return above the right of sovereign States to restrict entry to their territories.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Date Type:	Completion
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Law
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	14 February 2022
Last Modified:	11 Feb 2023 02:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/147411

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