In Col. 23, we upgrade the registered refugees, at 3.5% p.a., from 9 April 1997 to end of 1998, which is the fiftieth anniversary of the Palestinian Holocaust (Al-Nakba). The total number of registered refugees is 3,602,887.
Note that the figure upgraded is that of Col. 20, except at the District subtotal level, where the upgraded figure is the total of registered refugees, i.e. Col. 22. In Col. 24, we estimate the number of total refugees, i.e. the net expelled inhabitants of the villages in the Register, in 1998. In a separate study, the variation of the natural increase of the refugees with time (50 years) and with location (5 areas of UNRWA operations) is taken into account. This is applied to Col. 14, and the result is shown in Col.24, where the total refugees from the listed localities is estimated to be 4,940,269 in 1998.
This means there is 1,337,382 unregistered refugees. By comparison of Col. 23, 24, it is evident that the unregistered refugees come from:
- inhabitants of the main towns, (by far the largest).
- unlisted refugees, e.g. in Beer Sheba District, a large percentage of the population is not registered.
- refugees who were not eligible for registration for some reason.
- closing UNRWA records or not updating the records.
In few cases, the registered refugees in a particular locality is larger than the total for the locality. This is due to the difference in the definition and/or identification of the refugees’ origin by themselves and in this Register.
At the close of half a century after Al-Nakba, enduring the ravages of expulsion, occupation and destitution, the Palestinians are dispersed in the world in 1998 as shown in Table 7 (the minimum estimate).
The maximum estimate of the Palestinians in 1998 is 8,415,930, of which 5,477,745 are refugees.