Iraqis in Jordan - History

History

There have been two primary waves of Iraqi refugees coming into Jordan. The first wave arrived in the 1990s in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War, following Saddam's brutal repression of Iraqi Shi'a and Kurds and the imposition of economic sanctions on Iraq. At first, Iran was the destination of choice for the hundreds of thousands fleeing Iraq, but after 1995 Iraqis increasingly turned to Jordan to either settle there or use it as a transit base to other countries. Many of these refugees were upper-middle class, including doctors, intellectuals and teachers. Fewer lower class Iraqis settled in Jordan, as their poverty meant that they did not have the financial means to emigrate. The fact that many of these pre-2003 migrants had sold their properties in Iraq and brought large amounts of cash with them indicated that they did not plan to return to Iraq. The Jordanian immigration authority has provided the numbers of Iraqi nationals entering and leaving Jordan since 1990 up to March 2007, estimating them at 547,000.

Before the start of the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, between 250,000 and 350,000 Iraqis were thought to have been already living in Jordan. This figure has included not only Iraqi refugees, but also long-term residents who had remained in Jordan to work.

After the 2003 invasion, the demographics of those fleeing from Iraq to Jordan were similar to those of the first wave. They were businessmen and former government officials who brought with them great potential for investments. This influx of cash helped boost the Jordanian economy, but also fueled inflation and wage shortages, which aggravated existing inequalities.

Several factors influence Iraqis' decision to settle in Jordan. Jordan, unlike other neighboring countries, did not impose severe restrictions on Iraqis entering its territory. Iraqis both believed that Jordan would be willing to take them and that they would have a good chance of entering the country. Moreover, Jordan offered peace and stability and had a history of treating refugees, especially Iraqi refugees. WHen Iraqis began fleeing in large numbers in 2004, Jordan did not require prior entry visas from Iraqis, treating them as it treated nationals of other friendly Arab states.

Although exact numbers of Iraqi refugees are not easy to come by since the Jordanian government has not carried out any solid statistical studies, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that 750,000 to 1 million of whom have fled to Jordan. Iraqi refugees' settlement patterns, coupled with the Jordanian government's insistence that Iraqis are "guests" and not "refugees" have made it difficult to reach an accurate estimate of the numbers of Iraqi refugees in Jordan. What distinguishes the Iraqi refugee crisis is the fact that many of the refugees were middle class urbanites who fled to large urban areas in Jordan. This makes it extremely difficult for humanitarian agencies to provide services and collect accurate information from an 'invisible' refugee population. Moreover, the memory of Palestinian refugee camps in the collective Arab consciousness has undoubtedly been a factor in the urban settlement pattern of Iraqi refugees in Jordan and Syria.