Jordan

Year-end Overview

Working environment

While Jordan is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, a Memorandum of Understanding establishes the parameters for cooperation between UNHCR and the Government of Jordan. Protection space for refugees continues to decrease as entry into the territory is severely restricted.
In order to respond to the needs of refugees in Jordan, an increase in humanitarian assistance will be required. The 2016-2018 Jordan Response Plan (JRP), which represents the Jordan chapter of the Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP), focuses on resilience and refugee programming, with UNHCR playing the leading role for refugee response.

Over 80 per cent of refugees live outside camps and many have entered a cycle of asset depletion, with savings exhausted and levels of debt increasing; the Vulnerability Assessment Framework found that over 85 per cent of Syrian refugee households live under the Jordanian poverty line.
While access to legal employment for Syrian refugees has improved with some positive initiatives by the Government in relation to work permits, more is required in order to facilitate access to employment. UNHCR will continue to support refugee livelihoods and the right to work through advocacy, coordination and limited investments. UNHCR will also continue to follow a top-down/bottom-up approach by providing capacity building to Government entities while at the same time supporting refugee communities as protection agents, in line with the shift from a “Community Services” approach to implementation of comprehensive community-based protection interventions.

A Durable Solutions Working Group was established in 2017 to discuss durable solutions with a view of adopting to comprehensive approach including voluntary return, resettlement, complementary pathways and other solutions for all refugees. While UNHCR currently does not facilitate or promote returns to Syria, the need for early preparedness is recognized should a return scenario be viable in the future.  Resettlement for 2018 will largely depend on the availability of quota for resettlement and opportunities for complementary pathways of admission.
UNHCR will also undertake activities contributing to protection and assistance of IDPs in Southern Syria under the Whole of Syria strategic approach.

The number of Iraqis, Sudanese, Somalis and Yemenis registering with UNHCR is expected to continue growing. UNHCR, in line with the views expressed by refugees in AGDM exercises, will make efforts in implementing its “One Refugee” policy for all refugee groups under its protection, seeking to align protection and assistance policies with regard to various nationalities.
 

Key priorities

In 2018, UNHCR will focus on:

• Advocating on access to territory, the right to seek asylum, the principles of non-refoulement, family unity, and access to livelihood opportunities;
• Supporting the Government to provide security and protection to persons of concern in accordance with international refugee protection principles through capacity building initiatives;
• Providing multi-sectoral assistance to refugees in camps and cash assistance for more than 32,000 families among the most vulnerable living in urban areas.