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From Nation-State to Refugee-State? Reconceptualizing the Role of Forced Migrants in Jordan

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From Nation-State to Refugee-State? Reconceptualizing the Role of Forced Migrants in Jordan From Nation-State to Refugee-State? Reconceptualizing the Role of Forced Migrants in Jordan By: Reva Dhingra Thesis Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Middle East Studies at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, April 2014 Thesis Advisor: Sa’ed Atshan Second Reader: Beshara Doumani Abstract Refugees have been characterized in scholarship on forced migration as static, often helpless populations, falling under the responsibility of an international refugee regime, with their influence on the host state framed primarily as potential threats to sovereignty and as socioeconomic burden. I argue that in the case of Jordan, which has the highest refugee to citizen ratio in the world, refugees must instead be understood as actors with economic, political, and social agency that have played an integral role in the Jordanian state’s economic and governance strategies. I examine the three most salient features of the modern Jordanian nation-state: 1) the country’s status as a semi-rentier, aid-reliant economy; 2) the persisting authoritarian, elite coalition-based system of governance; and 3) the rapid urbanization and socio-spatial polarization experienced over the past five decades. I argue that as a result of the influence of Palestinian, Iraqi, and Syrian refugee influxes, Jordan has developed into a country defined by its refugees—a veritable “refugee-state.” This thesis concludes that the case of Jordan epitomizes the need for scholars to conceptualize refugees as individuals with the power to remake and fundamentally alter economic, political, and social systems within their host state—as part of and not separate to the host state’s domestic development. 2 Acknowledgements This thesis is the product of a year’s worth of labor and learning, undertaken by one individual but only possible through the help of many. Thank you first and foremost my wonderful advisor, Dr. Sa’ed Atshan, whose careful edits, advice, and energy motivated me to challenge myself further and further in writing this thesis. Your passion is remarkable, and is truly a source of inspiration. Thanks to the students and professors of Middle East Studies and International Relations, especially Professor Beshara Doumani as my second reader. The changes you helped initiate in the study of the Middle East at Brown have encouraged so many, including myself, to delve deeper into the region’s political, economic, and social life. Thank you also to Barbara Oberkoetter for your understanding as my work supervisor. I am grateful to Professor Claudia Elliott for her advice over the years as my International Relations advisor. Thanks to my professors at Brown for your wisdom and critical instruction—a special thanks to my professors Miled Faiza and Ziad Bentahar, who first instilled in me a love for the Arabic language. I am grateful to Middle East Studies and the Dean of the College for providing the funding necessary to conduct field research for this thesis. Thank you to my friends, professors, interviewees, and other individuals that I had the opportunity to meet during my time in Jordan. Thank you to Yousef Isawi, for being a source of advice and emotional support. Thanks also to Kerstin Wilsch, Mike Niconchuck, and Bader Almadi for their help with my research. Thanks to the fellow editors and friends of the Brown Journal of World Affairs—I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work and grow with you all over the past three years. To the Strong Women of Brown whom I shared a house with this year and have shared friendships with since my first year as an uncertain freshman: Thank you for being constant sources of inspiration. You have shown me that there are so many ways each of us can make change for the better in this world, and thank you for bringing laughter and hope to my daily life. And finally, there are no words that could adequately express the gratitude and love I feel for my family; it is only the knowledge of your full support that could provide me with the courage to pursue my intellectual and extracurricular passions. Thank you Mom and Dad for being a dearly needed bedrock of motivation and comfort during this year. To Menaka, the best sister and friend I could ever ask for: I love you and am so thankful to have you in my life. Thanks also to the extended Dhingra family, and to Aarsheya and Yuvraj, for being sources of distraction and joy. Finally, to my uncle, Rohinish Hooda, who passed away too soon—I graduate with the knowledge that you are watching over me and supporting me in every endeavor, and I am so grateful for the time we had together. This thesis, and my undergraduate career, is dedicated to your memory. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………………………...…… 5 Research Questions……………………………………….. …………………………... 7 Research Context…………………………….. ……………………………………...… 9 Study Scope………………..………………………………………………………...….16 Thesis Structure……… …………………………………………………………….… 19 CHAPTER 1: Jordan’s “Semi-Rentier Economy” and Refugee Economic Participation ……………………...…………………………………………………………….21 CHAPTER 2: Governing the Refugees: Inclusion/Exclusion and Refugees as Political Agents ……………………………………….……………………………………………........60 CHAPTER 3: Urbanization, Cosmopolitanization, and Refugees in Jordanian Society ……………………………………………………………………………………….… 98 CONCLUSION …………………………………………………………………………….....138 Research Summary ………………………………………………………………...…138 Research Findings ………………………………………………..………………...…138 Limitations ……………………………………………………………………….…... 143 Final Conclusions and Future Research ……………………………………...….….145 REFERENCES ……………………………………...………………………………………..147 4 Introduction Bordered by Syria on the north, Israel and the West Bank to the west, and Iraq to the east, the tiny kingdom of Jordan has largely escaped the turmoil that has beset these nations over the six and a half decades since its independence in 1946. Yet while Jordan has avoided the conflicts themselves, it has nevertheless faced their fallout—namely, through the millions of Palestinian, Iraqi, Syrian refugees residing within its borders, in addition to a number of other smaller refugee populations. Each of these three primary refugee presences in Jordan have now become “protracted refugee situations,” defined as refugees that have been in exile “for 5 years or more after their initial displacement, without immediate prospects for implementation of durable solutions.”1 Most scholarship on protracted refugee situations and, more broadly, the relationship between refugees and the host state focus on issues of security, economic pressure, and the difficulty of funding and distributing aid to these populations.2 As Edward Newman notes, “Refugee flows are demonstrably a source of international—mainly regional—conflict through causing instability in neighboring countries,” not only by introducing new forms of political resistance but also through the economic competition and resource strain placed on often already-impoverished countries.3 The “durable solutions” of repatriation or resettlement as residents or citizens of another country remain out of reach for about two-thirds of the world’s refugees, and generations may be born and continue to live in refugee camps for their entire lives.4 Within this framework, refugees are simultaneously cast as threats to the host state’s 1 James Milner and Gil Loescher, “Responding to Protracted Refugee Situations: Lessons from a Decade of Discussion,” Forced Migration Policy Briefing 6 (2011) Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford, p 3. 2 Milner and Loescher, “Responding to Protracted Refugee Situations” (2011). 3 Edward Newman, ed., Refugees and forced displacement: international security, human vulnerability, and the state. United Nations Publications, 2003, p15 4 Milner and Loescher, “Responding to Protracted Refugee Situations” (2011), p1. 5 security, economic burdens, and helpless, largely immobile populations subject to abuse and poor living conditions. This characterization of refugees as a destabilizing burden is echoed in the case of Jordan. In response to the renewed Israeli-Palestinian peace effort pushed by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, the Jordanian government has begun tallying up the cost of the Palestinian refugees, arguing that Jordan should receive USD $50 million dollars for each of the 65 years it has hosted the Palestinian population.5 In a 2013 speech to the United Nations, King Abdullah II of Jordan stressed that while “Jordanians have opened their arms to those in need, as we have always done,” they “cannot be asked to shoulder the burden of what is a regional and global challenge.” Citing the statistic that Syrian refugees now make up nearly 10 percent of Jordan’s population, King Abdullah II stressed the need for more international aid and support for Jordan in addressing the Syrian refugee presence.6 The economic and infrastructural pressures exerted by such a massive population influx are immense. However, as King Abdullah II’s speech also indicates, a vast refugee presence is not new for Jordan—in fact, refugees have been the norm rather than the exception. Jordan has the highest ratio of refugees to indigenous population of any country in the world, and has served as a shelter to over two million Palestinian refugees, close to 500,000 Iraqis, and over 500,000 Syrian refugees from the ongoing Syrian civil war.7 According to both the Jordanian government and international media, every new refugee influx brings the country closer to the edge of economic, social,
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