Refugees in Jordan

Friday, December 7, 2007

Today I had an opportunity to ask Nuhad, the executive director of the Middle East Council of Churches, about Palestinian refugees in Jordan, and we met with 2 Iraqi refugees who reported on the situation of Iraqis in Amman.

There have been several waves of Palestinian refugees moving into Jordan. The first was in 1948 when the Zionists of the Haganah and Stern gangs forced Palestinians out of their homes. The Palestinians who came at this time were assimilated into Jordanian society and became Jordanian citizens. Their children completed their educations, and they were able to find employment. The second wave was in 1967 when Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza. Some, but not all, of these refugees were accepted by the Jordanian government. By 1987

over 150,000 people were without Jordanian citizenship.

In 2003 a new wave of refugees came from Iraq. About 650,000 crossed into Jordan with and without passports. Because these people are not recognized by the Jordanian government as refugees, they cannot receive refugee aid from the United Nations. The government is calling them "guests." A refugee doctor and a Christian pastor, who are in Jordan legally, have been arranging for these families, including some Muslims, to receive food, clothing, furniture and other needed items. They must do this in secret so that the Jordanian government will not find out about the assistance.

We have been told by several people that no one, including "guests", in Jordan is homeless or living in a tent. According to these sources, everyone has a house or an apartment though it may be in a slum.

There are a great number of refugees/guests in Jordan and this is putting a great strain on the financial and social resources of the country.