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Covering the issue of irregular migration in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt) must take into consideration: Palestinian refugees, the Palestinian labour force in the Israeli labour market and the illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank including Jerusalem.
A number of interrelated factors contribute to Palestinian migration. Some of them are structural and are related to the historical and political conditions of Palestine, mainly occupation and the coercive displacement and uprooting and the absence of an independent state, while others can be considered policy-related and are linked to Israeli policies and measures in its occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip including Jerusalem from 1967 to the present day. Finally, there are some internal policy-related factors that relate to the economic and social policies adopted by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA).
In general, we can argue that irregular migration is not evident as a phenomenon within the oPt, rather it characterizes displaced Palestinians. But a predominant phenomenon within the oPt are the Israeli settlements and Jewish settlers who live in the oPt as part of the Israeli occupation and Israeli control over the Palestinian territories.
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