AMMAN — On August 9, 2016, the United Nations (U.N.) called for a “humanitarian pause” and cease-fire in Aleppo, which is considered Syria’s largest city.
It is estimated that 2 million residents lack access to running water. Aleppo’s water infrastructure was destroyed by the government’s latest campaign against the rebel-held city, and the news adds to the severity of what has been the world’s greatest humanitarian crisis for five years.
Widespread destruction in Aleppo has forced millions of Syrians to flee their country, and many go no further than Jordan, Syria’s southern neighbor.
While Jordan may be safer, many escape Syria with nothing more than their lives and face extreme poverty once in Jordan. Likewise, the Jordanian government has struggled to support a huge population of refugees, which surged past 600,000 last year and continues to grow. However, new policies this year have offered hope for Syrian refugees in Jordan, and newly implemented changes are already paying off for all parties.
Work permits have been issued to Syrian refugees in Jordan since February after the government lifted strict regulations that previously excluded more than 99 percent of Syrian refugees from working legally in the country.
The change came after an international meeting of donors in London on February 4, 2016 co-hosted by the U.K., Germany, Kuwait, Norway and the U.N. The conference raised more than $12 billion to address humanitarian issues in Syria and the surrounding region in the next 4 years. One of the major outcomes of the event was Jordan’s new initiative to provide refugees living in the country with jobs.
By now, more than 20,000 Syrian refugees in Jordan are certified for work, and the U.N. expects that number to more than triple before long. Some officials in Jordan hope to one day get it to 200,000.
Many Syrians spend everything they have in order to make it out of the country, arriving in neighboring countries like Jordan with no money or possessions. There is not enough humanitarian assistance from the government or international organizations to keep all refugees and their families alive and healthy, so many Syrians in Jordan need to search for work just to survive.
But finding work legally used to be virtually impossible for refugees. According to a 2015 report from the International Labour Organization, only Syrians who did not live in refugee camps and entered the country officially were allowed to even start an application for a work permit.
As a result, less than one percent of registered Syrian refugees were permitted to work at all in Jordan before these recent changes. Thousands of Syrians worked illegally without permits, risking being deported back to their war-torn homes.
Now, even Syrians living in refugee camps can legally find work, empowering them to support themselves and their families with fewer risks and barriers.
“We feel the difference,” said Mohammed, a Syrian refugee named who is now working on a farm in Jordan, to a BBC reporter in August. “Before we couldn’t work outside easily. We hid from the police. With the permits, it’s excellent.”
Jordanians are hoping that the change will benefit them as well. Jordanian officials are confident that it will boost the economy, which has suffered from the instability and war in neighboring Syria and Iraq. Supporting people who cannot support themselves was a burden for Jordan, and many Jordanians expect this change to relieve the strain of hosting so many refugees.
King Abdullah II even promised in February that for every new Syrian worker, there would be five new jobs for Jordanians.
Although such optimism may seem unrealistic, it suggests a clear confidence in Jordanian leadership that these changes will help the country as well as the refugees.
Furthermore, the EU and other foreign organizations have offered attractive financial perks to the country to help incentivize the integration of Syrian refugees in Jordan into the workforce and society. Officials from the EU announced on July 21 that it will exempt Jordanian manufacturers from duties for the next decade if they hire a certain amount of Syrian workers.
And Jordan’s Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Imad Fakhouri, told Reuters in July that the EU had set aside nearly €750 million in soft loans to Jordan.
The EU is hoping that Jordan’s cooperation in improving conditions for the refugee it is hosting, will prevent thousands more from attempting the dangerous journey to Europe.
The coming months will show whether the newly implemented policies in Jordan work, for Jordanians and thousands of Syrians refugees alike. And, as the fighting continues across the border, thousands will migrate in search of safety.
As the war continues in Syria, the international community must continue to adapt, like Jordan has, to support a growing number of displaced people.
– Charlie Tomb
Photo: Flickr