How many Palestinian refugees are there?
Reliable figures on the Palestinian refugee and displaced population are hard to find, as there is no centralized agency or institution charged with maintaining this information, and there is no uniform definition of a Palestinian refugee. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) administers the only registration system for Palestinian refugees, but it only includes those displaced in 1948 (and their descendants) who are in need of assistance and located in UNRWA areas of operation – West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. According to UNRWA, in 2006 there were 4,448,429 registered refugees. BADIL, a Palestinian non-governmental organization, estimated that there were more than 7.2 million Palestinian refugees and displaced persons at the beginning of 2005. [Survey of Palestinian Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons 2004-2005] This includes Palestinian refugees displaced in 1948 and registered for assistance with the UNRWA (4.3 million); Palestinian refugees d
