Palestine/United States: Renewal of Palestinian Travel Document from within the United States; whether the control of the Gaza strip by Hamas would have an impact
The BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights, a Bethlehem-based Palestinian non-profit organization working to protect and promote the rights of displaced Palestinians, indicated in 12 December 2009 correspondence with the Research Directorate that Palestinians cannot directly renew their Palestinian Authority travel documents while in the United States (US). According to BADIL, no Palestinian representative offices abroad can renew the documents, whether in the US or elsewhere (BADIL 12 Dec. 2009). This information is corroborated by the websites of Palestinian representative offices in the United States (US) and in Ireland, which both indicate that these offices cannot renew passports (PLO Mission to the United States n.d.; General Delegation of Palestine in Ireland n.d.). Passports must be sent to Palestine to be renewed (BADIL 12 Dec. 2009; PLO Mission to the United States n.d.; General Delegation of Palestine in Ireland n.d.).
However, sources note that it is possible to provide a friend or family member with "special power of attorney" so that he or she can renew a passport on someone else's behalf at the Palestinian Interior Ministry in the West Bank in Palestinian territory (BADIL 12 Dec. 2009; PLO Mission in the United States n.d.; General Delegation of Palestine in Ireland n.d.). BADIL notes only family members as possible representatives (BADIL 12 Dec. 2009), but the websites of Palestinian representative offices mention that the power of attorney may also be given to friends (PLO Mission in the United States n.d.; General Delegation of Palestine in Ireland n.d.).
According to BADIL, the fact that Hamas controls the Gaza strip is not the reason that Palestinians cannot renew their travel documents abroad (BADIL 12 Dec. 2009). Rather, BADIL states that Palestinian travel documents cannot be renewed abroad because the state of Israel has to approve all Palestinian travel documents prior to their issuance by the Palestinian Authority (PA) (ibid). The U.S Committee for Refugee and Immigrants (USCRI), a non-governmental organization (NGO) that advocates for international refugees and migrants, also notes that the Palestinian Authority requires Israeli approval to issue identity cards which are necessary for obtaining international travel documents (USCRI 2009). USCRI's World Refugee Survey 2008 also previously noted that "refugees who had lived outside of the [occupied] territories for more than three years were not eligible for [Israeli-issued identity cards]" (USCRI 2008).
According to media reports, Palestinian authorities in the West Bank have withheld the passports from individuals living in the Hamas controlled Gaza Strip in order to put pressure on Hamas (Jerusalem Post 1 July 2009; AP 21 Aug. 2008). The Associated Press (AP) news agency also reports that in March 2008 Hamas banned the practice of Gaza residents applying for passports by mail from the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank saying that only Hamas should issue the West Bank-provided documents to Gazans (ibid).
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Associated Press. (AP). 21 August 2008. Ibrahim Barzak. "Long-suffering Gazans Deprived of Passports by Palestinians Power Struggle." (Factiva)
BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights. 12 December 2009. Correspondence with Director.
General Delegation of Palestine in Ireland. N.d. "Consular Services." <http://www.gdp.ie/consular.html> [Accessed 15 Dec. 2009]
Jerusalem Post. 1 July 2009. Bassem Eid. "The Cost of Corruption." <<http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1246443695537&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull> [Accessed 4 Dec. 2009]
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Mission to the United States. N.d. "Passport Renewal & Special Power of Attorney." <http://www.plomission.us/consularaff.html> [Accessed 26 Nov. 2009]
U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI). 2009. "Country Report: Israeli-occupied Territories." World Refugee Survey 2009. <http://www.worldrefugeesurvey.org/index.php?title=Israeli_Occupied_Territories> [Accessed 31 Dec. 2009]
_____. 2008. " Country Report: Israeli-occupied Territories." World Refugee Survey 2008. <http://www.refugees.org/countryreports.aspx?id=2149> [Accessed 31 Dec. 2009]
Additional Sources Consulted
Oral sources: The director of the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group provided a link to an article he had written.
Internet sources, including: Amnesty International (AI), BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights, Human Rights Watch, Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group (PHRMG), Israel /Palestine Center for Research and Information, United States (US) Department of State.