Jordan: Treatment of Palestinians; inter-ethnic relations between Palestinians and Jordanian tribes as well as state protection available to Palestinians who are physically assaulted by Jordanian tribes people (upon the Palestinian's decision to court a tribeswoman)

According to Human Rights Watch, Palestinians living in Jordan are "well integrated socially and economically" and most have acquired Jordanian citizenship (n.d.). Radio Netherlands Wereldomroep states that Palestinians were welcomed by Jordan and given nationality, although they are now being seen as "more and more of a problem" due to the high costs of assistance and rapid population growth among Palestinians (11 Feb. 2002). This article further states that Jordanians fear that the 1.6 million Palestinians currently in Jordan control the business sector and "will dominate the economy" (ibid.).

The U.S. Committee for Refugees' Country Report: Jordan 2002 states that Palestinians in Jordan are the most secure economically and legally of any Palestinian refugees within the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East's operations (2002). Eighteen per cent of Palestinian refugees in Jordan live in refugee camps, the lowest percentage among UNRWA operational areas (ibid.). Many Palestinians in Jordan have the same rights as Jordanians, including the right to vote (ibid.). However, they are underrepresented in government and "suffer discrimination in appointments to government and military positions, as well as admission to universities and access to university scholarships" (ibid.).

A report published by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network states the following:

According to what we have learned in our interviews, although Palestinian refugees have been given Jordanian nationality, they are strongly discriminated against because of their Palestinian origins. In practice, roughly 90% of all government posts, in particular in the army, police, magistracy and the universities are reserved for people of Jordanian origin.

The Jordanians of Palestinian origin appear to be convinced that the authorities look upon them as temporary citizens who shouldn't really be given the right to settle because it is envisaged that they will one day return to Palestine. In his book entitled 'Jordanians, Palestinians and the Hashemite Kingdom', Mr. Adnan Abu-Odeh, a writer and former head of the Jordanian government, explains that although the laws do not advocate any form of discrimination as such, a certain de facto discrimination exists vis-à-vis Palestinians. Some people claim, for example, that the electoral system prevents Jordanians of Palestinian origin from being properly represented in parliament. According to the statements, it would appear that in those areas where Jordanians of Palestinian origin are in the majority, the number of seats up for election is generally less than the number of seats in areas where the majority of people are Jordanian in origin.

Jordanians of Palestinian origin want to be considered as Jordanians proper. They also believe that the right to return should only be a matter for Palestinians who want to keep the right to choose to stay in Jordan or to return to Palestine should the opportunity arise (2001, 25).

The director of the Palestinian Diaspora and Refugee Centre (SHAML), an independent non-governmental organization based in Jerusalem and dedicated to Palestinians, Palestinians with some relation to political activities or PLO factions might be targeted (10 Sept. 2002). Furthermore, the director stated that outside of Amman, tribal society dominates (ibid.). A tribe could refuse a marriage, but, in his opinion, it would be rare that this would lead to threatening the life of the Palestinian (ibid.). A professor of political science at McGill University agrees that, in his opinion, any inter-ethnic problems between Jordanian tribes people and a Palestinian man wishing to court one of their women would be a consequence of "insider/outsider issues" more than "Palestinian/Jordanian ones" (4 Sept. 2002). The professor further stated that he "doubted he could fear for his life" (ibid).

However, the director of the BADIL Resource Center, which aims to provide a resource pool of alternative, critical and progressive information on the question of Palestinians: "The life of a Palestinian can be threatened, if he makes advances to a woman of a Jordanian tribe which are rejected by the leaders of the tribe. Examples of cases of use of violence are numerous. Violence in such cases is often tolerated by the authorities, even if prohibited by law." (9 Sept. 2002).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

BADIL. 9 September 2002. Correspondence from the director.

Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network. 2001. Mohammed Tahri and Maria de Donato. "Refugees Also Have Rights!" [Accessed 4 Sept. 2002]

Human Rights Watch (HRW). n.d. "Human Rights Watch Policy on the Right to Return." [Accessed 4 Sept. 2002]

McGill University. 4 September 2002. Correspondence from a professor of political science at the Palestinian Refugee Network.

Palestinian Diaspora and Refugee Centre (SHAML). 10 September 2002. Correspondence from the director.

Radio Netherlands Wereldomroep. 11 February 2002. Jan-Pieter Visschers. "Jordan Needs Palestinians." [Accessed 4 Sept. 2002]

U.S. Committee for Refugees. 2002. Country Report: Jordan 2002. [Accessed 4 Sept. 2002]

Additional Sources Consulted

IRB Databases

NEXIS

Internet sites, including:

BADIL

Institute for Palestinian Studies

Journal of Palestine Studies

Middle East Information Center

Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group (PHRMG)

Palestinian Information Center

SHAML - Palestinian Diaspora and Refugee Centre

UNRWA