© 1997 by Oxford University Press
SECTION II |
The Refugee Working Group, the Middle East Peace Process, and Lebanon
Special Coordinator, Middle East Peace Process Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Ottawa
The Refugee Working Group, created in 1992 and chaired since 1995 by Canada, is part of the multilateral track of the Middle East peace process. The multilateral track was intended to build cooperation between parties in the region, but discussion of the refugee issue cannot escape being influenced by the ups and downs of the bilateral process. Nevertheless, because of the human importance of this issue, the core participants have been willing to see certain low profile or technical discussions continue despite the general impasse in the Israeli-Palestinian bilateral process. In its five years of work, the RWG has had a significant impact on the humanitarian conditions of the Palestinian refugees, although these still remain difficult. It has also achieved some small gains in the area of family reunification. Neither Lebanon nor Syria participates so far in the RWG, but their presence would be welcomed. No peace in the Middle East is likely to be durable unless it includes a resolution of the refugee question which is broadly accepted as ‘just’ by all the principal stake-holders.