.
A severe brutality broke through the first morning of Ramadan, normally a peaceful month for fasting and prayer. According to the Jordanian government, an alleged terrorist entered the intelligence office at the perimeter of the Baqa’a refugee camp and shot down five employees just before 7a.m. on Monday, June 6. Driving into Baqa’a several hours later, the scene is calm. A few extra security personnel in bullet-proof vests stand at the entrance of the facility, but they are at ease, and the yellow crime scene tape is now ripped and dangling onto the ground.
The alleged terrorist attack indicates a possible infiltration of radical ideology into the camp. The Jordanian government has taken a draconian response to crack down on terrorism, including the Irbid raids in March and the sentencing of several hundred individuals in special military courts, but these are reactionary, short-term efforts. Considering Jordan currently hosts approximately 1.4 million Syrians, of which only 657,000 are registered refugees, the Baqa’a incident should serve as a warning for the government and international aid organizations to learn from past experiences hosting Palestine refugees and move to improve circumstances for Syrian refugees. The implementation of progressive, long-term policies with strengthened development and integration mechanisms for Syrians must be prioritized.
With close to 100,000 residents, Baqa’a is Jordan’s largest Palestinian refugee camp. It started as an informal tent settlement (ITS) after the 1948 Palestinian displacement known as the Nakba, and then became an official United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) camp following the Six-Day War in 1967. While ’48 refugees are granted Jordanian citizenship, ex-Gazans from ’67, who comprise approximately 140,000 of Jordan’s 2 million registered Palestinian refugees, are not so lucky. They have tenuous legal status, facing barriers to employment and even access to some refugee services.
Most Palestinian refugees in Jordan experience relative freedom and civil rights compared to their counterparts in surrounding host countries, yet they continue to suffer from large structural circumstances of exclusion. To this day, the lack of political will to accept the long-term nature of Palestinian refugees distracts from necessary development efforts and emphasizes a delusive response category more appropriate for emergency relief. For example, it is just this year that UNRWA has been able to navigate the political pressure and move from outdated and undignified in-kind food baskets to e-cards for those most in need. These adverse conditions and exclusionary policies create vulnerable living conditions, stagnate refugees’ full potential, and lay the groundwork for radicalization.
Just two weeks after the Baqa’a attack, on June 21, terror revisited the area: a car bomb targeting Jordanian soldiers exploded near the Ruqban border crossing. The attack killed an estimated six soldiers and injured another 14 just outside the highly contested informal refugee camp known as “the berm,” located in the no-man’s land between the Jordanian-Syrian borders. The car reportedly came from the camp and used an opening dedicated for humanitarian aid delivery to reach the guard post. ISIL later released a video claiming responsibility for the attack.
To many familiar with the berm, the attack was not surprising. The camp is a blight on the humanitarian response map; its inhumane conditions, limited access, and legality issues situate it at the heart of contention around Jordanian border policy.
While neither this incident nor the Baqa’a attack confirms that refugee groups have become fully radicalized, they nonetheless demonstrate the porous nature of such an at-risk population and the very real threats of extremist infiltration, recruitment, and radicalization.
Research shows that the degree of marginalization affects the likelihood of refugee populations turning to violent extremism. The socio-political and economic opportunities made available to refugees - that is to say, ensuring their basic needs - is certainly an aspect of preventive human security. But according to a study conducted by the RAND Corporation on “Lessoning the Risk of Refugee Radicalization,” there are six common factors present in the historical ‘worst cases’ of refugee radicalization: host country’s administrative, legal policies; political and militant organizing; security; shelter; local economic conditions and resilience; and conditions for youth. It is the social cohesion and good governance aspects of each factor, not just poverty, that stand out as the cross-cutting themes that lead to radicalization.
While the Jordanian Response Plan (JRP), produced by the Government’s Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, articulates a progressive, forward-looking rights-based approach, the reality remains bleak. The JRP is divided between short-term refugee response and longer-term resilience building. But in practice, the immediate response has proved inadequate, and resilience building is out of sight. In fact, as of now, the Syrian refugee situation in Jordan exhibits four of the six factors identified in the RAND study: host country’s administrative, legal policies; shelter; local economic conditions and resilience; and conditions for youth.
Nearly 80% of Syrian refugees in Jordan reside in host communities instead of camps, with a majority settling along the northern border areas and in the capital, Amman. Often these refugees fall between the cracks of aid organization services and local governance. They experience social marginalization within the host community, and remain economically vulnerable due to the strict regulations against Syrian work permits. Youth between the ages of 0-17 – some 51.6% of registered refugees – especially suffer in these circumstances: many pushed out of school and into abusive work conditions at young ages to help support their families.
Recognizing the steps needed to integrate and empower refugees today will insulate Jordan’s stability for the future. The government should move swiftly to realize the progressive, long-term approach outlined in the JRP. In particular, focus should be directed towards investing in host community resilience and education to ensure a dignified future for refugees through integration and inclusion as an act of preventive security.
About the author: Lily Lousada is based in Amman, Jordan where she works on conflict mitigation, socio-political stability, and governance development. She also serves as a Middle East Fellow at Young Professionals in Foreign Policy (YPFP).
Photo by Maurits Otterloo - June 6 2016.
The views presented in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of any other organization.
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The Rising Threat of Refugee Radicalization in Jordan
July 20, 2016
A severe brutality broke through the first morning of Ramadan, normally a peaceful month for fasting and prayer. According to the Jordanian government, an alleged terrorist entered the intelligence office at the perimeter of the Baqa’a refugee camp and shot down five employees just before 7a.m. on Monday, June 6. Driving into Baqa’a several hours later, the scene is calm. A few extra security personnel in bullet-proof vests stand at the entrance of the facility, but they are at ease, and the yellow crime scene tape is now ripped and dangling onto the ground.
The alleged terrorist attack indicates a possible infiltration of radical ideology into the camp. The Jordanian government has taken a draconian response to crack down on terrorism, including the Irbid raids in March and the sentencing of several hundred individuals in special military courts, but these are reactionary, short-term efforts. Considering Jordan currently hosts approximately 1.4 million Syrians, of which only 657,000 are registered refugees, the Baqa’a incident should serve as a warning for the government and international aid organizations to learn from past experiences hosting Palestine refugees and move to improve circumstances for Syrian refugees. The implementation of progressive, long-term policies with strengthened development and integration mechanisms for Syrians must be prioritized.
With close to 100,000 residents, Baqa’a is Jordan’s largest Palestinian refugee camp. It started as an informal tent settlement (ITS) after the 1948 Palestinian displacement known as the Nakba, and then became an official United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) camp following the Six-Day War in 1967. While ’48 refugees are granted Jordanian citizenship, ex-Gazans from ’67, who comprise approximately 140,000 of Jordan’s 2 million registered Palestinian refugees, are not so lucky. They have tenuous legal status, facing barriers to employment and even access to some refugee services.
Most Palestinian refugees in Jordan experience relative freedom and civil rights compared to their counterparts in surrounding host countries, yet they continue to suffer from large structural circumstances of exclusion. To this day, the lack of political will to accept the long-term nature of Palestinian refugees distracts from necessary development efforts and emphasizes a delusive response category more appropriate for emergency relief. For example, it is just this year that UNRWA has been able to navigate the political pressure and move from outdated and undignified in-kind food baskets to e-cards for those most in need. These adverse conditions and exclusionary policies create vulnerable living conditions, stagnate refugees’ full potential, and lay the groundwork for radicalization.
Just two weeks after the Baqa’a attack, on June 21, terror revisited the area: a car bomb targeting Jordanian soldiers exploded near the Ruqban border crossing. The attack killed an estimated six soldiers and injured another 14 just outside the highly contested informal refugee camp known as “the berm,” located in the no-man’s land between the Jordanian-Syrian borders. The car reportedly came from the camp and used an opening dedicated for humanitarian aid delivery to reach the guard post. ISIL later released a video claiming responsibility for the attack.
To many familiar with the berm, the attack was not surprising. The camp is a blight on the humanitarian response map; its inhumane conditions, limited access, and legality issues situate it at the heart of contention around Jordanian border policy.
While neither this incident nor the Baqa’a attack confirms that refugee groups have become fully radicalized, they nonetheless demonstrate the porous nature of such an at-risk population and the very real threats of extremist infiltration, recruitment, and radicalization.
Research shows that the degree of marginalization affects the likelihood of refugee populations turning to violent extremism. The socio-political and economic opportunities made available to refugees - that is to say, ensuring their basic needs - is certainly an aspect of preventive human security. But according to a study conducted by the RAND Corporation on “Lessoning the Risk of Refugee Radicalization,” there are six common factors present in the historical ‘worst cases’ of refugee radicalization: host country’s administrative, legal policies; political and militant organizing; security; shelter; local economic conditions and resilience; and conditions for youth. It is the social cohesion and good governance aspects of each factor, not just poverty, that stand out as the cross-cutting themes that lead to radicalization.
While the Jordanian Response Plan (JRP), produced by the Government’s Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, articulates a progressive, forward-looking rights-based approach, the reality remains bleak. The JRP is divided between short-term refugee response and longer-term resilience building. But in practice, the immediate response has proved inadequate, and resilience building is out of sight. In fact, as of now, the Syrian refugee situation in Jordan exhibits four of the six factors identified in the RAND study: host country’s administrative, legal policies; shelter; local economic conditions and resilience; and conditions for youth.
Nearly 80% of Syrian refugees in Jordan reside in host communities instead of camps, with a majority settling along the northern border areas and in the capital, Amman. Often these refugees fall between the cracks of aid organization services and local governance. They experience social marginalization within the host community, and remain economically vulnerable due to the strict regulations against Syrian work permits. Youth between the ages of 0-17 – some 51.6% of registered refugees – especially suffer in these circumstances: many pushed out of school and into abusive work conditions at young ages to help support their families.
Recognizing the steps needed to integrate and empower refugees today will insulate Jordan’s stability for the future. The government should move swiftly to realize the progressive, long-term approach outlined in the JRP. In particular, focus should be directed towards investing in host community resilience and education to ensure a dignified future for refugees through integration and inclusion as an act of preventive security.
About the author: Lily Lousada is based in Amman, Jordan where she works on conflict mitigation, socio-political stability, and governance development. She also serves as a Middle East Fellow at Young Professionals in Foreign Policy (YPFP).
Photo by Maurits Otterloo - June 6 2016.
The views presented in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of any other organization.
