Right to Return and International Law
One of the guiding principles of international law and UN resolutions is the right of refugees to return to their homes. Repatriation is the favoured solution for refugees exiled in the course of conflict. The Geneva Convention prohibits "individual or mass forcible transfers [...] regardless of motive". The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and other international legal instruments concerning human rights affirm the right of every individual to leave and return to his country. Conventions relating to the rights of indigenous peoples confirm the right to return to land from which they have been displaced by force.
In the case of Palestinian refugees, their right to return and compensation is supported explicitly by UN Resolution 194 (December 1948) which was adopted one day after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This resolution has since been reaffirmed one hundred and ten times by the United Nations. The right of Palestinian refugees to regain ownership of their property is established by numerous international legal instruments concerning the rights of civilians in times of war, human rights and indigenous rights. Ordinary property law supports the Palestinian right to their properties. As recently as November 1998, the UN General Assembly reaffirmed in resolution 52/644 the principle, based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international law, that Palestinians are entitled to all revenu from their property.
Since the Madrid Conference, Israel has reluctantly agreed to discuss the refugee question, provided the "right of return" is not raised. Consideration of the case of the 1967 refugees and their descendents and the modalities of their return is allowed for in article 12 of the Declaration of Principles. No progress, however, has been made on this question.
Israel will probably try to prevent a return of large numbers to the West Bank. It will not want a numerically superior Palestinian community alongside Israel. Yet to prevent such a return violates UNGAR 194 and every legal instrument concerning refugee rights. Israel must weigh up how badly it wants a complete and final settlement that will stick. This where the international community is under a serious misapprehension in referring to the "right of return" as a political issue. UNGAR 194 says nothing of a political settlement. On the contrary, only one condition is placed on the refugees, a condition which is manifestly non-political: "those refugees wishing to return to their homes to live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date". This is the position, hardly a political one, to which the international community, with the exception of Israel, is formally committed.