Second: The group of Palestinian that did not complete the census, despite their presence in Lebanon at the time. Their situation was settled by a decision of the Minister of interior (Number 136,1969) through which they were entitled to obtain 'laissez-passer' and are registered with General Security Registry and the Department of Refugee Affairs. They do not benefit from UNRWA services.

Third: Several hundreds of Palestinians who were either 1) forced to take refuge in Lebanon after the war of June 1967,2) deported from the occupied territories, 3) liberated from Israeli prisons, or 4) the families of the PLO fighters who left Lebanon in 1982. This group does not posses permanent papers and is therefore unable to travel outside of Lebanon or to move freely within the country (estimated up to 4000 persons).

Political-economic factors govern the estimation of the number of refugees. Some Lebanese authorities inflate the numbers by as much as 600,000 in order to demonstrate that Lebanon endures a heavy burden- and therefore to justify its efforts to request the transfer of the Palestinians to other countries. In fact, however, the number of Palestinians has gradually diminished, especially if we take into consideration the issue of the "re-instatement" of Lebanese nationality to nearly 35000 refugees from seven villages, according to the latest naturalization law (Act 5247, 20 June 1994). Also another decision affecting the Legal position of Palestinians in Lebanon was decree no. 478 issued by the Lebanese Minister of the interior on 23 September 1995. This act forbade the return to Lebanon of Palestinian refugees presently outside of the country, even if they carry travel permits issued by the Lebanese General security Directorate, unless they obtain a return permit (visa). However, the administrative application did not generally grant this permit and nearly 100,000 Palestinians found themselves de facto exiled from Lebanon due to this decision, most of them were erased from the official Lebanese registry.

We can obtain a more accurate estimate of the number of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon based on UNRWA statistics by taking into account the number of refugees that 1) have obtained Lebanese citizenship and 2) were prevented from returning to Lebanon. Such an estimate recognizes that the number of Palestinian refugees resident in Lebanon is closer to 300,000 than the officially proclaimed number of 400,000.

The Palestinian Legal Situation in Lebanon:
There is no doubt that the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon have a special legal status. As individuals, the law treats them as foreigners subject to Lebanese sovereignty because they do not posses Lebanese citizenship. As a community possessing Palestinian national identity, they are treated according to the particularity of their cause. The Lebanese state, out of its sovereignty, refused to accept to introduce special laws recognizing the status of Palestinians as a community or a minority. In fact, it generally treats them as individuals, and only rarely as a community protected by Arab agreements and international declarations.

First: Legal Sources:
The primary sources for defining the legal position of Palestinian in Lebanon are international conventions officially recognized by Lebanon. Theoretically, these conventions are considered obligatory and local laws are subject to their jurisdiction. In reality, however, the practice of the Lebanese government is often in direct opposition to these conventions. Among these conventions are:
1) The International Declaration of Human Rights, issued on 10 December 1948.
2) The International covenant on Civil and Political Rights, issued on 16 December 1966.
3) The International Covenant on Economic, Social, Cultural Rights, issued on 16 December 1966.

Second: Individual Rights:
Based on the Principle of sovereignty, the Lebanese authorities issued decisions and laws that they found appropriate for dealing with the presence of Palestinian refugees. From the beginning, the Lebanese authorities allowed the Palestinians to concentrate in only a very limited number of Camps and rejected in Al-Taif agreement any reference that would provide the Palestinians with implantation (Tawteen). It also refused to permit the establishment of a camp in the Al-Quri'aa district for the Palestinians displaced in the middle of 1994. The Lebanese government established the Department of Palestinian Refugee Affairs in the Ministry of the interior and issued decree 927 (31 March 1959), grating it certain powers in relation to individual Palestinian refugees. The Department has the power to count the refugees, maintain their registration files, grant them identification documents, and accept application for travel permits free of charge. Later, it imposed fees and then increased the hinders by passing Order 478 (22 September 1995), which required that Palestinian refugees outside of Lebanon obtain a return visa in order to re-enter the country. This order introduced further difficulties on the right of Palestinian refugees to travel to and from Lebanon. This ruling was abolished after five years.

It has always been the position of the Lebanese authorities to treat the Palestinians as foreigners with respect to the right to work and social security. This position is a fundamental aspect of the negative forms of discrimination that Palestinians have faced since they became refugees.

Moreover, the right to education of Palestinians have faced obstacles to, since they became refugees, no more than 10% of the studying seats in official schools were permitted to foteigners. This deprives the refugees of appropriate educational opportunities in addition to the laws affecting their right to health.

The practices of the Lebanese authorities with respect to the Palestinians are discriminatory in many fields mainly including:

1) The Right of Real Estate Ownership:
The question of foreign owner ship of national territories is a sensitive matter. Lebanese law imposed harsh restrictions on the size of foreign ownership. On 4 January 1969, the cabinet adopted Decree 11614, based on the proposal of the Minister of finance, which made foreign ownership of land conditional upon the acquisition of a license. Exempted from the license fee is the ownership of land not to exceed 5,000 square meters in the Beirut district. The construction should be completed within five years of registering with the land register. Foreign companies, on the other hand, are allowed to own 10,000 square meters. To register, the foreigner pays 10% more fees than the Lebanese. This law was amended to create equality between Lebanese and foreigners regarding the license fees only.
A recent amendment to the above decree was introduced in 5/4/2001 by the law 296, which canceled in practice all the rights of Palestinians to real estate property. The law says:" It is not permissible to have any real estate property, by any person who is not carrying a nationality from a recognized state, or by any person if the property is contradictory with the constitutional precepts concerning the rejection of (Palestinian) (Tawteen).
This law led to forbid the Palestinians from the acquisition of their own houses, it is Known that 5000 families bought apartments on installments, which made them unable to register before the termination of pay, add to that the impossibility to register any real estate ownership previously registered by the old decree, inherited by a Palestinian. The problem is still present today by exempting Palestinians negatively, an exception from all foreigners.

2) The Economic Situation of Palestinians and their Right to Work and to Social Security:
With the onset of the 1990s, the Palestinians in Lebanon did not enjoy the same civil and social rights as Lebanese citizens. The state introduced conditions that all government employees must be Lebanese citizens who have been naturalized for at least ten years. This deprived Palestinians of employment in any official capacity in any governmental organizations.