UNRWA records indicated that the number of registered Palestinian refugees in 2018 amounted up to about 6 million and those figures represented the minimum number of Palestinian refugees, where they constitute almost half of the Palestinians in the world (about 13 million), Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) said on the occasion of the International Day of Refugees.
As for Palestinians in Arab states, The percentage of Palestinian refugees registered with UNRWA in Jordan, amounted up to about 39% of the total Palestinian refugees while the percentage of Palestinian refugees registered with UNRWA in Lebanon and Syria reached about 9% and 11% respectively.
PCBS noted that there were no significant differences between the demographic and social characteristics of refugees and non-refugees in general, except for poverty and unemployment indicators due to regional/area reasons, where about two-thirds of the population of Gaza Strip is refugees.
It said the percentage of the population of refugees in State of Palestine at the end of 2018 reached about 41% .of the total Palestinian population residing in State of Palestine, and data indicated that 26% of the population in the West Bank is refugees, while the percentage of refugees in Gaza Strip is 64%.
The percentage of persons aged less than 15 years in State of Palestine reached 39% (refugees and non-refugees) at the end of 2018, while the percentage of elderly people aged 60 years and above (refugees and non-refugees) was about 5%.
It said records showed no significant difference in the average number of children born to refugee and non-refugee women.
The mean number of children ever born to women ever married in State of Palestine 2017 is 4.4 births, 4.5 for refugee women compared with 4.3 for non-refugee women.
Based on the data of Population, Housing and Establishments Census 2017, about 7% of Palestinian refugees suffer from difficulty compared with 5% among non-refugees.
On the types of difficulties between refugees and non-refugees, it was found that individuals who suffer from difficulty of seeing was higher among refugees compared to non-refugees at 3% and 2% respectively, while the proportion of individuals with difficulties in movement among refugees was about 4% compared to about 3% among non-refugees.
At the regional level, the percentage of refugees in the West Bank suffer from difficulty was about 6% compared with 7% among refugees living in Gaza Strip for 2017.
It said poverty percentage among the refugees was about 39% during 2017 according to monthly consumption patterns.
The main reason behind the high poverty percentage among refugees compared to non-refugees is due to high unemployment rates in Gaza Strip, where the refugees represent two-thirds of its population, said PCBS.
The poverty percentage among refugees was 15.7% in the West Bank, while poverty percentage was 54.1% among refugees in Gaza Strip.
The socio-economic conditions of the Jordan’s Palestinian refugee camps study 2011, which was prepared by FAFO showed that 40% of the individuals in the Palestinian refugee camps in Jordan aged under 15 years old, while the percentage of the elderly (65 years and above) was about 4%, and the average of household size was 5.1 individuals.
The results of the Palestinian Refugees in the Palestinian Refugee Camps and Localities Census in Lebanon 2017 showed that the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon are concentrated in Sidon with (36%), followed by North (25%), Tyre (about 15%), Beirut 13%, Al Chouf 7% and Bekaa 4%.
The results also indicated that about 5% of the Palestinian refugees have another nationality.
Kh.R
