The Jordanian political economist and long-time commentator on the Israeli-Palestinian dialogue Riad Al Khouri who was interviewed for this report in October 2022 provided the following general analysis to contextualise child protection among the population of stateless Palestinians:
“[...] most Palestinian refugees are Muslim [and] tend to have lower standards, more common child marriages, more common child labour, and others. And this problem has been getting worse over the past few years for economic reasons. Child labour is an obvious example. But child marriage is also an economic issue, whereby you sometimes get rich people, particularly from the Arab Gulf, coming to Lebanon and offering families substantial amounts of money for a young bride who may be below the legal age of marriage [...] and is also becoming more common now in Lebanon.”
(Source: Riad Al Khouri, interview record, 7 October 2022)
UNRWA stated in its 2021 Annual Operational Report:
“Palestine refugees were already among the most vulnerable and marginalized communities in Lebanon with deteriorating conditions adding to their hardship. Through a crisis monitoring survey conducted by UNRWA in 2021, 58 percent of respondents reported consuming fewer meals per week, while 25 per cent reported eating less to provide for their children. The Agency also registered: (i) cases of students dropping out of UNRWA schools due to the need to take paid employment; (ii) an increased number of children suffering from psychological distress; and
(iii) increases in cases of child labour, child marriage, child abuse and harassment and violence against girls and women”.
(Source: UNRWA, “Annual Operational Report 2021”, 27 October 2022, p. 9)
UNRWA stated in its Protection brief titled ‘Palestine refugees living in Lebanon’:
“Overcrowded living conditions, insufficient livelihood and employment opportunities and high poverty rates are some of the factors exacerbating the exposure of Palestine refugee children to different forms of violence, exploitation and abuse in Lebanon. Violence within the home is a main child protection issue. The use of physical and psychological violence against children, including violent discipline and hitting, is considered as a generally accepted and commonly applied method of discipline in PRL and PRS households. Overall 77 percent of PRL children and 72 percent of PRS children experienced psychological aggression, while 59 per cent of PRL children and 55 per cent of PRS children were subjected to some form of physical punishment (citing UNRWA, Violence affecting Palestine Refugee Children in Lebanon, Situation analysis, January 2018 )
• Palestine refugee children risk being exposed to armed violence in the Palestine refugee camps particularly, including recruitment and use of children by armed actors, with disruption of education and severe consequences on their wellbeing and development (Report of the SG on Children and armed conflict, 9 June 2020)
• Child labour and families resorting to negative coping mechanisms are increasing. Five per cent of PRL and four per cent of PRS children are reportedly involved in different forms of child labour, with a rise among Palestine refugee families’ common belief that labour provides more opportunities than education in a context of limited access to the job market (citing Drivers and Causes of Intimate Partner Violence, VAC, Child Marriage and Child Labour, Magenta & Unicef Lebanon, August 2019 ). As a result, many children are spending a considerable amount of time on the streets, vulnerable to all kinds of exploitation, and missing out on their education in the process. In November 2018,
an estimated 4,500 Palestine refugee children were engaged in different forms of child labour. (citing In Focus: Child Labour in Lebanon, Interagency Coordination Lebanon, November 2018 ).
• Substance abuse and involvement in often violent drug related networks is anecdotally reported as on the rise, in particular for adolescents, youth, and even children, with an increasing number resorting to the distribution or transportation of drugs. Data is limited on this growing phenomenon due to its sensitive nature.”
(Source: UNRWA: “Protection brief Palestine refugees living in Lebanon Updated in September 2020”, Updated September 2020, p. 3)