Executive Summary
This paper presents an overview of policy options for Jordan of extending its protection framework and enlarging economic opportunities for Syrian refugees. It is based on consultations with experts and local stakeholders as well as a review of the literature and research that has taken place over the last three years on the impact of Syrian refugees on Jordanian society and development. The report was developed by experts from the UN’s International Labour Organization (ILO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).
Ongoing violence in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Libya has resulted in unprecedented population movements within the region and beyond. Jordan has welcomed some 630,000 registered Syrian refugees fleeing the conflict in their homeland since 2011, with estimates putting the total number of Syrians in the Kingdom at some 1.4 million.
With the Syria crisis in its fifth year, humanitarian aid and the absorption capacity of Jordanian communities have become stretched. Many refugees, with limited access to sustainable livelihood options, have now entered a cycle of asset depletion, with savings gradually exhausted and levels of debt increasing. The most vulnerable refugees are particularly affected. Many are adopting severe coping strategies, such as reducing food consumption, withdrawing children from school or taking on informal, exploitative or dangerous employment.
The influx of Syrian refugees has likewise impacted the Jordanian labour market. There are serious pressures on job opportunities, wage levels, working conditions, and access to work for Jordanians as well as for refugees and migrant workers. This is of particular concern in the northern governorates where the share of Syrian refugees, and the pressure on the labour market, is greatest.
With no immediate end to the conflict in Syria on the horizon, with humanitarian assistance diminishing, and with livelihood options for refugees limited, thousands are choosing the dangerous path of migration to Europe. Others are even returning to insecure areas of Syria. Jordan and its partners are at a critical juncture in their response to the Syria crisis. The challenge is to sustain levels of funding needed to cover the basic needs of vulnerable refugees and, at the same time, to broaden the options for Syrian refugees - women, men, boys and girls of all ages – to pursue a dignified and productive future in the region.
This can be achieved through a variety of immediate, short term and medium term policy options and programmes, as summarised below and elaborated upon in section three. Efforts to offer economic opportunities among refugees will need to be pursued in conjunction with investments to overcome longstanding structural unemployment among Jordanians as well as with steps to mitigate any real, or perceived, negative impacts on the labour market for Jordanians.