Vertical Property Challenges to the “Rights of Return”: The Case of Palestinian Refugee Camps in Lebanon

In the aftermath of the Bared Palestinian refugee camp event in 2007 in Lebanon, there has been a growing focus on property rights for refugees within public discussions surrounding the refugee camps. The conflicts that arose during the reconstruction process revealed the complex nature of the forces that shape the built environment of the camps. Furthermore, it became evident that their legal status, which was often seen as an exception, failed to account for their vertical expansion, resulting in the emergence of various forms of tenure. The traditional understanding of their genealogy, limited to one form of landownership, should have considered the reality of their vertical expansion. Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon have always existed outside the legal framework of land ownership, with refugees not owning the land itself but rather the houses they have gradually established over the years. This chapter delves into the misconceptions surrounding land tenure practices and explores how the agency of Palestinians has evolved over time, involving a range of social norms, actors, and rationalizations. The underlying proposition of this discussion is that if confessional political leaders, policymakers, and urban managers in Lebanon acknowledge the inevitability of urban transitions and recognize the contributions of the refugee society to economic development, it could potentially enhance the status quo of the built environment within Palestinian refugee camps. Based on spatial and architectural ethnography this research is interrogating the vertical expansion in two camps in Lebanon Ain El Helwe in Saida city and Burj El Barajneh in the southern city of Beirut. It shows that camps spaces have been permanently crisscrossed by different socio-political forces (local, national, regional, international), within which Palestinian refugees shape their experiences and practices and re-define their subjectivities and morph their existence. The chapter emphasizes the importance of exploring the vertical dimension in refugee camps, as it is instrumental in comprehending the intricate interplay of geopolitical, institutional, legal, regulatory, spatial, and financial factors that impact the security of tenure. By addressing these multifaceted aspects, we can effectively discuss the tenure rights of Palestinian refugees residing in camps while navigating the complex process of negotiating their rights of return.