Forced Migration in the OIC Member Countries:
Policy Framework Adopted by Host Countries
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provides all services inside Palestinian refugee settlements, and also offers some support to
Palestinians in urban areas.
Identity and registration cards issued by UNHCR or the Jordanian Ministry of the Interior (for
Syrians) are required to access almost all services in Jordan, whether provided by the
government or through NGOs. Individuals who have not registered with UNHCR or who have
not completed the Ministry of the Interior documentation process are thus likely to experience
significant challenges accessing essential services. Recently, some Syrians have also reported
difficulty using their old Ministry of the Interior identification cards, since the re-
documentation process began.186 PRS who have not registered with UNRWA face similar
challenges.
Housing
Housing and shelter are both integral to accessing protection for refugees in Jordan and a
source of additional vulnerability. While all refugees may choose to find their own housing in
urban areas, Palestinians and Syrian refugees also have access to shelter provided through the
UNRWA or UNHCR camp systems. No camps are available for Iraqis or refugees of other
nationalities.
UNRWA operates 10 official camps for Palestinians in Jordan, four of which were established
to accommodate the 1948 arrivals and have now come to resemble the surrounding urban
areas. While tents were originally provided as shelter for refugees in UNRWA camps, most
have now been converted to permanent concrete or prefabricated structures which refugees
have expanded on over time, adding additional rooms or stories to the buildings. Ownership
rights to these structures are somewhat tenuous, despite the fact that many have housed the
same family for generations; refugees can lay claim to the buildings themselves but the land
on which the structure sits is considered to be on loan from the Jordanian government.187
Crowding is a problem in some settlements—approximately 17 percent of households lived in
crowded conditions in 2011—although conditions have improved over time as family sizes
have shrunk.188 Sanitation and services in camps are broadly of acceptable quality and most
housing has private toilet facilities and water.189
Conditions in the three official refugee camps for Syrians are more limited and less developed.
Shelters consist primarily of prefabricated structures, and water and sanitation facilities are
usually shared.190 Access to electricity is typically provided only at certain hours of the day or
is rationed by household. Conditions in the camps can be difficult during harsh winter or
summer weather conditions. In December of 2015, for example, two thirds of refugee families
in Zaatari camp reported their shelters were not suitable for winter conditions.191
186 Amnesty International, Living on the Margins: Syrian Refugees in Jordan Struggle to Access Health Care, (Amnesty
International: London, 2016)
187 Åge A. Tiltnes and Huafeng Zhang , Progress, challenges, diversity: Insights into the socio-economic conditions of Palestinian
refugees in Jordan, (Oslo: FAFO, 2013),
economic_conditions_of_palestinian_refugees_in_jordan.pdf
188 Tiltnes and Zhang , Progress, challenges, diversity.
189 Tiltnes and Zhang , Progress, challenges, diversity.
190 UNHCR, Zaatari Refugee Camp: Factsheet, April 2016,
76#; and UNHCR, Azraq Camp: May 2016,
191 UNHCR, Zaatari Refugee Camp: Winter Response, November 2015-February 2015,