Neighbouring conflict - and influx of thousands of refugees - has left its mark on kingdom used to peace
AS THE war in Syria approaches its seventh year, the tremors from the conflict continue to be felt in ways seen and unseen in neighbouring countries. Of those, Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan have taken in the largest numbers of Syrians forced to flee their homeland.
The influx of Syrian refugees has affected each country in different ways, just as each country has dealt with the flow in different ways.
Jordan is no stranger to refugees: for decades it has taken in millions of Palestinian, Iraqi and Syrian refugees, with the flow over its borders reflecting the dynamics of regional upheaval.
When I lived in Amman a couple of years after the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, Iraqi exiles crowded its streets. The wealthier ones – including Saddam Hussein’s daughters who lived in a villa in Amman’s most affluent district – drove up property and food prices to the chagrin of locals already struggling to make ends meet. The less well-off settled in the city’s poor neighbourhood, some of them opening restaurants specialising in food that reminded them of home.
And so each wave of refugees – whether Palestinian, Iraqi or Syrian – has left its mark on Jordan, the tiny desert kingdom considered an island of peace and stability in a tough neighbourhood, and this latest influx of Syrians is no exception.
Jordan currently hosts more than 660,000 of the 5.2 million Syrian refugees scattered across the region, according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR, while Jordanian government figures put the number at 1.3 million to include those who have not registered with the UN.
UNHCR has said that 93pc of Syrian refugees in Jordan currently live below the poverty line, with around 180,000 of them housed in two camps in the desert, including the sprawling Zaatari camp near the Syrian border.
Jordan estimates that it has spent more than $10bn (€8.6bn) on healthcare, education, employment, public services and subsidised food for Syrian refugees. Another $1.7bn (€1.4bn) is expected to be spent this year in covering costs for the refugees who live in the permanent camps like Zaatari.
But while Jordan allowed thousands of Syrians to cross its border on foot when their country tipped into civil war more than six years ago, it has also been criticised for practising a policy of “selective admission” for refugees fleeing Syria since 2012. In summer 2016, Jordan decided to close its border with Syria after a suicide bombing at a crossing-point claimed the lives of six Jordanians. The move meant some 50,000 refugees were left stranded in a ‘no man’s land’ on the border, with little access to humanitarian aid.
Another attack inside Jordan that December prompted a further security crackdown across the country amid concerns Syria’s violence was spilling over into Jordan.
THE number of Syrian refugees deported by the Jordanian authorities began to rise after that, an escalation that human rights groups have slated as violating the international law concerning non-refoulement which relates to the forced return of a refugee to a place where his or her life is under threat.
Advocacy group Human Rights Watch reported this month that Jordan has been deporting an average of 400 Syrian refugees per month in 2017. Jordanian authorities insist that those who have left have done so voluntarily and were sent to areas inside Syria considered safe.
A recent World Bank report detailed how some 80pc of all Syrian refugees live in host communities concentrated in urban areas including Amman because cities and towns are perceived to offer better economic opportunities, more security and greater access to services.
The fact the refugees are blending into existing urban populations creates challenges from the economic to the social and cultural, as happened with the wave of Iraqi refugees after 2003. Just like they did then, Jordanians are again complaining of rocketing rents and rising prices of essentials.
They also grumble about security concerns. A recent study by the University of Jordan found that 49pc of Jordanians believe that the existence of refugees outside the camps “highly threatens the security and stability of Jordan”.
Meanwhile, the Syrian refugees face an increasingly precarious existence. After almost seven years of war back home, most find their savings depleted, their social support networks fraying and their access to work opportunities limited. Those who have found employment tend to work as farm labourers or mechanics or in construction.
The question of when – if ever – they can return to their homeland continues to haunt them. The perception in some quarters that Syria’s war is winding down is not shared by many here.
It may have slipped from the headlines, but according to the UN’s regional relief co-ordinator, September was the deadliest month of this year for civilians inside Syria.
Jordanians are again complaining of rocketing rents and rising prices of essentials. They also grumble about security concerns – 49pc believe refugees outside the camps ‘highly threatens the stability of Jordan’