Iraqi Refugees
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Institute for the Study of International Migration Center for Contemporary Arab Studies Urban Refugees in Amman, Jordan Rochelle Davis with the assistance of Abbie Taylor Georgetown University Photos: Collateral Repair Project Rochelle Davis is an Associate Professor of Anthropology in the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. https:// blogs.commons.georgetown.edu/rochelledavis/ Abbie Taylor is a Research Associate in the Institute for the Study of International Migration at Georgetown University and holds a Master of Arts in Arabic and International Relations from the University of Saint Andrews, Scotland, and a Master of Arts in Arab Studies from George- town University. Acknowledgements The authors would like to express their appreciation to all those who participated and facilitated research for the project and the cooperation of all those we interviewed. The Iraqis who shared their personal and family stories with us allowed us to understand their perspectives, challenges, and hopes. Joseph Sassoon willingly offered his knowledge and insights with us, for which we are grateful. Funding for this research was made possible through the support of the Bureau for Population, Refugees and Migration at the U.S. Department of State. The authors would also like to acknowledge project officer Sarah Cross for her work. Table of Contents I. Executive Summary 4 II. Background and Present Situation 5 II.I Major Conclusions and Recommendations 8 II.II Innovative Projects 13 Chapter 1: Introduction, Aims and Methodology 18 1.1 Methodology and Interviews 18 Chapter 2: Mapping the Jordanian Context 21 2.1 Background 21 2.2 Humanitarian Aid Community 21 2.3 Refugee Demographics in Amman: Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis and Sudanese 23 Iraqis 23 Palestinians in Jordan 31 Somalis and Sudanese 34 2.4 Recommendations 36 Chapter 3: Housing In Amman 37 3.1 Background 37 Housing Costs and Access 40 3.2 Recommendations 45 Chapter 4: Livelihoods 47 4.1 Background 47 Refugees 47 Protracted Displacement 51 4.2 Training Programs from INGOs/CBOs 53 4.3 Recommendations 56 Chapter 5: Education 59 5.1 Iraqi Refugees 59 5.2 Psychosocial Issues and Education 62 5.3 Higher Education 64 5.4 Recommendations 65 Chapter 6: Social Life and Access to Services and Communities 67 6.1 Gender Issues and Family 69 6.2 Recommendations 70 Chapter 7: Future 71 Chapter 8: Funding 73 I. Executive Summary Since 2003, aid to Iraqi refugees has provided humanitarian solutions to political problems. Issues such as violence, insecurity and lack of services in Iraq, which caused the flight of refugees have yet to be addressed in Iraq, impeding their return home.. The Jordanian government has granted Iraqi refugees access to K-12 public Education CH4: Executive Summary Executive education and public health care on the same level as uninsured Jordanians; the I. refugees, however, do not have the right to work legally. Consequently, Iraqis are now in situation of protracted displacement, which means not only are they depleting all of their economic resources since leaving Iraq, but they are almost entirely dependent on the aid community for their livelihood. Furthermore, Iraqi children are on a trajectory to be less educated than their parents because of disruptions in schooling and lack of opportunities for higher education and employment. The vast majority of Iraqis are urban refugees—both from cities and towns in Iraq and living in cities in Jordan. The six plus years of experience with this population has shown that urban populations in a lower-middle income country consume a great deal of financial resources both because the refugees have middle-class healthcare needs, educational goals and desires, and also because life in Jordan is not inexpensive. One of the lessons learned from the Iraqi refugee experience for the humanitarian aid community has been that collaboration among UN organizations, the Government of Jordan (GoJ) and its ministries, INGOs, NGOs and CBOs has led to successful projects and the greatest amount of transparency. Building local capacities and institutions has been positive for Iraqis and local communities. Another lesson learned was that access to healthcare services seemed to be a gateway to accessing other services and thus was a useful tool for outreach. Out of these experiences, a number of innovative programs were developed. In particular, UNHCR significantly changed refugee management methods that were replicated in other locales depending on the context. They shifted to ATM cards for cash rather than providing food, they developed a computerized registration system (RAIS), and they coordinated trainings for local and government officials on refugee rights. Other successful projects for urban refuges included the development of informational materials and new forms of service-provision. Training programs were less successful if only because legal employment is not possible. At the same time, refugee input was rarely considered in any systematic form. Refugees expressed that they have received very little communication, and a good deal of confusion has been generated, in terms of changing access to services and asylum-seeking processes. Iraqis are also acutely aware of their status as dependent on the aid community and the psychosocial effects of this life spent in limbo. Consequently, they invest a great deal of hope in resettlement opportunities, rather than return. 4 5 II. Background and Present Situation Jordan hosts large numbers of refugees, the vast majority of which live in urban areas, primarily in and around the capital city of Amman. The largest refugee group CH4: in Jordan is made up of Palestinians, many of whom hold Jordanian citizenship. Education Education They came in two major waves: the first in 1948 and the second in 1967. Unofficial CH4: estimates place the Palestinians at around half of the total population of the country.1 Another wave of displaced persons followed the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and the subsequent war—an estimated 200,000 Palestinians and Jordanians returned to Jordan permanently, and a large number of third country nationals took temporary refuge along the Jordanian border. Small numbers of Iraqis have made 2 II. Jordan their home since Saddam Hussein’s ascension to power in the late 1970s. Situation and Present Background More recently, much larger movements of Iraqis into Jordan began following the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.3 At their peak, around 2007-2008, estimates ranged between 400,000 and 750,000 Iraqis in Jordan.4 Funding to provide for the Iraqi refugees institutionally and systematically began in earnest in 2006. It came from the U.S. and EU and was channeled to the UNHCR, the Government of Jordan and non-governmental organizations. Based on current UNHCR registration, the number of Iraqis in Jordan is significantly smaller today (under 50,000), although it is clear that there are many thousands of Iraqis who are not registered with UNHCR. While there are many wealthy Iraqis in Jordan who will never need humanitarian aid, there are no estimates as to how many unregistered Iraqis may find themselves vulnerable and in need of assistance from UNHCR as time passes. Other refugee communities from Somalia and Sudan, among other countries, also make Jordan their home. Jordan’s population is disproportionately urban and has good access to services. The official estimated population of 2.27 million Amman residents at the end of 2011 makes up over 35 per cent of the 6.25 million population of the country.5 The indigenous Jordanians consist of a mix of urban, village and Bedouin communities, spread throughout the country with a long history of farming the highlands, facilitating trade and pilgrimage caravans and rearing animals. Today, Jordan is, by World Bank measures, a lower-middle income country, with a Gross National Income per capita of $4,340; 13.3 per cent of the population live at or below the national poverty line. All of the urban and rural areas of Jordan are connected to electric and water grids (although with water shortages in the country, some people 1 See: L. Brand (1988) Palestinians in the Arab World: Institution Building and the Search for State, New York: Columbia University Press): Chapters 9-11. 2 See: G. Chatelard (2002) “Jordan as a Transit Country: Semi-Protectionist Immigration Policies and Their Effects on Iraqi Forced Migrants,” paper present- ed at Third Mediterranean Social and Political Research Meeting, 20-24 March, Montecatini Terme and Florence, http://m.sumer.dk/upl/10390/Jordantran- sitcountryI.pdf; G. Chatelard (2010) “Jordan: A Refugee Haven,” Amman: Institut français du Proche-Orient (IFPO). 3 J. Sassoon (2009) The Iraqi Refugees: The New Crisis in the Middle East. London: I.B. Tauris. 4 There have been many works discussing the number of Iraqi refugees, most notable of which are: G. Chatelard (2011) “Iraqi Refugee and IDPs: From Humanitarian Intervention to Durable Solutions,” Washington, D.C.: Middle East Institute and Fondation Pour La Recherche Strategique; J. Sassoon (2009) The Iraqi Refugees: The New Crisis in the Middle East. London: I.B. Tauris; K. Washington (2010) “Iraqis in Jordan: Urban Refugees, Data and the Implications for Emergency Education Programs”, Washington, D.C.: Middle East Institute and Fondation Pour La Recherche Strategique, http://www.refugeecooper- ation.org/publications/Iraq/03_washington.php; and K. Dalen, J. Pedersen, A. Attallah and M. Dæhlen (2007), Iraqis and Jordan 2007: Their Numbers and Charcteristics, Oslo: FAFO, United Nations Population Fund UNFPA and Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, http://www.fafo.no/ais/middeast/jordan/ Iraqis_in_Jordan.htm. 5 Department of Statistics (2011) “Estimated Population of the Kingdom by Urban and Rural, at End-year 2011”, Amman: Government of Jordan, http:// www.dos.gov.jo/dos_home_e/main/ehsaat/alsokan/2011/pop2011.htm Department of Statistics.