BEIRUT: Paleostinian refugees will not become citizens of a new Paleostinian state, according to Paleostine's ambassador to Leb.| *speechless* |
...an idea whose time has gone...
chair, Ambassador Abdullah Abdullah spoke to The Daily Star Wednesday about Paleostine's upcoming bid for U.N. statehood.
The ambassador unequivocally says that Paleostinian refugees would not become citizens of the sought for U.N.-recognized Paleostinian state, an issue that has been much discussed. "They are Paleostinians, that's their identity," he says. "But ... they are not automatically citizens."
This would not only apply to refugees in countries such as Leb, Egypt, Syria and Jordan or the other 132 countries where Abdullah says Paleostinians reside. Abdullah said that "even Paleostinian refugees who are living in [refugee camps] inside the [Paleostinian] state, they are still refugees. They will not be considered citizens."
Abdullah said that the new Paleostinian state would "absolutely not" be issuing Paleostinian passports to refugees.
Neither this definitional status nor U.N. statehood, Abdullah says, would affect the eventual return of refugees to Paleostine. "How the issue of the right of return will be solved I don't know, it's too early [to say], but it is a sacred right that has to be dealt with and solved [with] the acceptance of all." He says statehood "will never affect the right of return for Paleostinian refugees."
The right of return that Abdullah says is to be negotiated would not only apply to those Paleostinians whose origins are within the 1967 borders of the state, he adds. "The state is the 1967 borders, but the refugees are not only from the 1967 borders. The refugees are from all over Paleostine. When we have a state accepted as a member of the United Nations, this is not the end of the conflict. This is not a solution to the conflict. This is only a new framework that will change the rules of the game."
The Paleostinian Liberation Organization would remain responsible for refugees, and Abdullah says that UNRWA would continue its work as usual.