PALESTINIAN REFUGEE CAMPS IN JORDAN, PART 3: THE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 05 AMMAN 001744

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/03/2018
TAGS: ECON PGOV KPAL KREF JO
SUBJECT: PALESTINIAN REFUGEE CAMPS IN JORDAN, PART 3: THE
CYCLE OF POVERTY

REF: A. AMMAN 1466

B. AMMAN 391

C. UNRWA REPORT - "A SOCIO-ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF
SPECIAL HARDSHIP CASE FAMILIES" (2006)

D. AMMAN 670

E. AMMAN 815

F. AMMAN 1724

G. AMMAN 1725

Classified By: Ambassador David Hale
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (SBU) Note: This is the third of a four-part series of
cables examining the world of Jordan's Palestinian refugee
camps. Part one focused on the different categories of
refugees, and the basic structure of the camp system as it
exists in Jordan. Part two examined the isolation of the
camps - how they are largely separate from Jordanian society,
politics, and economics. Part three will look at the
economic situation of the camps and their inhabitants,
particularly in light of recent strains on Jordan's economy.
Part four will examine Islamist politics and extremism in the
camps. These cables are the result of focus group meetings
with diverse residents of nine camps in Jordan. End Note.


2. (C) Summary: Poverty is an all-encompassing issue that
defines Jordan's refugee camps. Rising prices impact all
Jordanians, but the residents of the camps feel their effects
acutely, especially in terms of the cost of land and health
care. Lack of opportunity is frequently cited as the main
reason that the camps remain centers of poverty - a situation
exacerbated by the lack of education, societal
discrimination, and exodus of skilled workers. Poverty is
the only force that keeps people in the camps. Some are
eligible for government or UNRWA assistance, but that help is
both inflexible and insufficient. The complicated land
ownership system in the camps is another damper on economic
advancement. Those camp residents who do succeed in life do
so in spite of their situation, not because of it. End
Summary.

The Cycle of Poverty
--------------


3. (C) In Jordan, there are no official signs or other
markers that delineate most refugee camps from the urban
neighborhoods that surround them. It is poverty that defines
the borders of Jordan's refugee camps - a recognizable shift
from the middle class to the lower class. Contacts in the
camps use a common set of adjectives to describe their
economic situation - low, hard, desperate, difficult.
"Poverty is everywhere in Jordan. But in the camps, it is
one hundred percent," says a resident of the Al-Husn camp,
near Irbid.


4. (C) Jihad Thaher, UNRWA's area officer for the Zarqa
district, notes that the people in the camps are by
definition the poorest of the poor. Those who have the
income stream necessary to support their families in the
outside world will immediately seek a life outside of the
camp. Since the camps are already overcrowded, the shelters
of those who move into the middle class are usually turned
over to the ever-expanding families who are too poor to break
the cycle of poverty.

Inflation Takes Its Toll
--------------


5. (C) There is plenty of angst across the board in Jordan
about the rising cost of living, and for the residents of the
camps, it is an enormous part of their daily struggle. "Most
families are sleeping without heaters so they can buy bread,"
says Ibrahim Natour, of Jebel Hussein camp. Said Ajawi, of
Irbid camp, cites a recent string of suicides to demonstrate
the difficulty that people are facing. Residents of the
Zarqa camp told us that their neighbors are buying livestock
and raising them in the streets of the camp - an option, they
say, that ultimately proves cheaper than buying meat in local
markets. Suleyman Abu Taheiner, a resident of the unofficial
Sukhna camp, says, "I said to the meat in the supermarket:
'Goodbye, I can't afford you anymore.'"


6. (C) Facing the rising cost of health care is a
particularly acute problem in the camps. Residents of Zarqa
and Sukhna camps spoke about the increasing reliance of camp
residents on the basic health system of UNRWA, which provides
care and pharmaceuticals free of charge to registered
refugees. Due to the lack of full access to Jordanian health
services caused by their citizenship status, the people of
the camps used to bear the full cost of their treatment at
government or private hospitals - a bill they can no longer
afford to pay (Ref A). "We go to UNRWA's clinics because we

AMMAN 00001744 002 OF 005


can't afford any other treatment," says Furejat Um Yazan, a
resident of the Sukhna camp. UNRWA's Jihad Thaher sees an
alarming uptick in the number of patients using the agency's
health system due to economic conditions, and fears an
overload. He says that on average, the staff of UNRWA's
small Zarqa clinic now see up to 110 patients per day.


7. (C) The skyrocketing cost of land and rising consumer
prices in Jordan are causing young people in the camps to
postpone marriage. Buying a house outside of the camp has
always been a challenge, but now it is almost impossible for
newlyweds with one or even two entry-level incomes to start a
life for themselves in the current economic climate. Abu
Ra'ed Darash, a resident of Zarqa camp, explained the
situation of his thirty-six year old son, who has been
engaged for years, but is unable to seal the deal because he
does not have the financial wherewithal to find housing or
provide for a family. Ayman Al-Burini, a student from Zarqa
camp, says that many of his friends face a similar situation.


8. (C) An experienced hand with over twenty-five years as an
UNRWA staffer, Thaher says that he has never seen the
economic situation in the camps decline so rapidly and so
far. He believes that the true impact of rising prices in
Jordan has so far been masked by the tight social and
economic networks of the camps, but fears for the future.
"People start to rely on their relatives for help. Then they
move to the neighbors. Pretty soon the neighbors who were
giving ten percent of their income to others can't afford it
anymore," he says.

The Cost of Opportunity
--------------


9. (C) Contacts within the camps are unanimous in their
diagnosis of the reason they remain trapped in a cycle of
poverty. They consistently and vocally assert that economic
opportunities are simply not available in Jordan for
Palestinians. Notwithstanding the fact that the private
sector in Jordan is dominated by Palestinians, many talk
about the lack of work in the public sector as a function of
officially sanctioned prejudice against Palestinians. Jihad,
a student from Baqa'a camp, posits that "East Bankers can
find work easily. Palestinians can't. We can't join the
army. We can't join the civil service. Palestinians have no
wasta ('connections')." Sheikh Qteishat, also of Baqa'a
camp, complains that "the only job available, even for highly
qualified Palestinians from the camps, is to sweep the
streets of Amman."


10. (C) Residents of the camps speak often about a brain
drain and how it impacts the economic and social life of the
camps. For educated sons and daughters of the camps, the
lack of employment opportunity in Jordan often means finding
a job in the gulf or further afield. Salam Hamdan of Jebel
Hussein camp says that "people from the camps are very
successful when they pursue their careers in the gulf
countries. But not one of them is a success here in Jordan.
It's impossible." As a result, many in the camps are
dependent on remittance income - a subject that will be
treated in more detail septel.


11. (C) Unskilled workers from the camps are most often
employed in the agricultural or construction sectors. These
jobs often require them to commute long distances for
salaries that are unable to support large families. The
recent lifting of fuel subsidies in Jordan has led to a
corresponding rise in the price of public transportation - a
system that refugees rely on heavily to get to work.
Residents of Sukhna camp say that many of their neighbors
(particularly women) work in the local Qualifying Industrial
Zone (QIZ) as garment workers. The minimum wage salaries
(110 JD, or 154 USD per month) are insufficient, and most of
the workers tack on as much overtime as they are allowed in
order to make ends meet.


12. (C) Some people from the camps also point out that their
lack of full Jordanian citizenship often prevents them from
investing in land and property that would serve as a
financial refuge in times of need. The convoluted property
system of the camps (see paragraph 20) exacerbates this
problem. Zughd Al-Houli, a resident of the Sukhna camp, drew
the distinction between East Bankers who, she argued, are
able to live the "Jordanian dream" of home ownership and the
residents of the camps who live a hand-to-mouth existence,
largely without access to credit or other equity-building
devices.


13. (C) In addition to the lack of jobs, opportunities for
camp residents in the Jordanian education system are few and
far between. Sheldon Pitterman, who served until recently as
UNRWA's Jordan Director, notes that only 300 tuition-free

AMMAN 00001744 003 OF 005


slots in Jordanian universities are designated for students
from the camps. Since many of these students have less than
full Jordanian citizenship, they are frequently ineligible
for scholarships and must pay full tuition. The main
consequence of this systemic bias against Palestinian
refugees is that increasingly, the people of the camps are
without skills and connections necessary to gain employment.
Residents of Jerash camp, who are mostly former Gazans
without Jordanian citizenship, relay that work in the
informal sector or seasonal employment - jobs in construction
and agriculture - are the only reliable source of employment
for many in the camps. "The big problem for us is
unemployment," says Salam, a resident of Jerash camp. "With
nothing else to do, the unemployed are just hanging around on
the streets of the camp."

Should We Stay Or Should We Go?
--------------


14. (C) Poverty is the only reason that people remain in the
camps - there is little to no emotional attachment to the
land or even the people that keeps refugees inside the camps.
Said Ajawi echoes the constant refrain of our contacts when
he says, "if people in the camps earn enough money, they buy
land outside the camps and leave." Land and housing prices
in Jordan have increased steadily since 2003, making it
increasingly difficult for camp residents and average
Jordanians to invest in real estate. The lack of outflow
means a corresponding increase in the already crowded
conditions that prevail in all of Jordan's refugee camps.


15. (C) Structures in the camps (many of which were designed
to be temporary) are coming to the end of their natural
lives. Walking through the narrow lanes of the camps is a
study in crumbling facades, piles of rubble, and buildings
that have seen better days. Residents of the camps are eager
to renovate, but are too poor to afford it. This, along with
the convoluted property ownership system (see paragraph 20),
contributes to the feeling of destitution and despair within
the camps.


16. (C) Camp residents tell us that one of the effects of
the unemployment and poverty in the camps is an increased
focus on the right of return (Ref B). Said Ajawi warns that
with increasing prices in Jordan, residents of the camps are
looking more and more towards Palestine itself as an
alternative to residence in Jordan - it is becoming more
politically attractive, but most of all camp residents see it
as cheaper. "Palestinians who live outside of the camps are
thinking long term - they're thinking about building their
lives. People here in the camps are thinking about
Palestine." A resident of Jerash camp told us that he had no
choice but to look for alternatives to his current situation:
"We don't have jobs, or even national numbers. What is the
future for my kids in this country?"

Welfare Sheikhs
--------------


17. (C) Some residents of the camps are eligible to receive
financial aid from the Jordanian government. Yet the
existence of different gradations of Jordanian citizenship
(Ref A) mean that this assistance is uneven. People from the
camps are unanimous in their verdict: aid from the Jordanian
government is not enough, and its value is constantly
decreasing as inflation rises. Afaf Mejdelawi, a housewife
from the Zarqa camp, points out that the large families of
the camps who are eligible for government assistance receive
only a pittance from the government - 36 JD (USD 43) per
month, per person.


18. (C) Approximately fourteen percent of refugees who live
in camps in Jordan are part of UNRWA's "hardship case"
program, created in 1978 to help the neediest people who fall
under the agency's care. These refugees meet strictly
defined criteria of poverty, and receive additional
assistance. The assistance is meager, however - only 7 JD
(USD 9.80) per month. With the recent rise in consumer
prices, refugees are forced to stretch this additional money
even further. Note: The hardship case program is currently
under review, and may eventually include other forms of
assistance such as employment services and direct food aid in
the future. End Note. UNRWA's Pitterman complains that the
government always sees monetary support for Palestinian
refugees as "additional" to that of UNRWA, which it holds
responsible for the refugees' primary care.


19. (C) The Gazan residents of Jerash camp are in a
particularly tight spot economically. Refugees from the West
Bank, who are often Jordanian citizens, have access to
government health care and other vital services. The people
of Jerash camp, on the other hand, are entirely dependent on

AMMAN 00001744 004 OF 005


UNRWA. The only aid they receive from the government of
Jordan is a quarterly donation of 200 packets of groceries
from the King. The packets, which contain around 100 JD (140
USD) of food, reach only a small minority of the 28,000
people who live in the camp. Jihad Thaher, UNRWA area
officer for Zarqa, says that the agency has a preferred
hiring program for refugees from Gaza in recognition of their
inability to access the services of the Jordanian government.
As a result, Jordan's UNRWA employees are disproportionately
of Gazan origin.

Land Ownership: Down the Rabbit Hole
--------------


20. (C) A major factor that impacts the financial security
of camp residents is the convoluted property ownership
system. When the camps were founded in the early 1950s and
late 1960s, the Jordanian government leased the land for the
camps rather than buying or expropriating it. Over the
years, Jordan has maintained lease payments to these
landowners for the camps, some of which now occupy urban land
that is worth millions of dollars. Note: The high cost of
maintaining these leases over the years is one of the main
factors in Jordan's quest for governmental compensation as
part of any solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
End Note. The primary consequence of this system for the
residents of the camps is that they cannot buy the land on
which they live and work. While they wait for a solution,
residents of the camps are trapped in a financial gray area.


21. (C) Residents of the camps cannot buy the property they
live on, but they do technically own the structures they
inhabit. Yet there is a further complication that derives
from the system of registering deeds and ownership changes in
these structures. UNRWA, not the Jordanian government, holds
the documents that register ownership of the structures in
the camps. These pseudo-deeds have not been updated since
the founding of the camps - the original owners of the
structures from the camp's founding are listed on all of the
deeds. Yet the structures in the camps have changed hands
many times since then; nearly all of the houses and
businesses in the camps are occupied by people who are not
the original owners listed on the registration documents.


22. (C) In the absence of an official registration process,
an informal system of ownership change has blossomed in the
camps. Residents of several camps told us that larger
families are often unable to find sufficient housing, and are
forced to swap with people in other camps, creating a de
facto property exchange market between the different camps.
When camp residents want to buy, lease, or trade a structure
in the camp, they come to an agreement with the owner, and
exchange what amounts to a promissory note. Each structure
in the camps has a chain of promissory notes that traces back
to the original "ownership" document on file with UNRWA.


23. (C) The legality of this system is unclear, and as a
consequence Jordanian courts are inundated with property
disputes from the camps. The director of Al-Husn camp told
us that in the end, "we have many problems determining the
ownership of buildings," and that many of the buildings are
tied up in endless legal battles over the validity of
promissory notes. There is a project in the works to create
an electronic record system for property in the camps, but
UNRWA officials say that the system is in its infancy. Note:
During our visit to Souf camp, an official from the
Department of Palestinian Affairs (DPA) who sat in on our
meeting was accosted by a man engaged in a complicated
property dispute. End Note. As a consequence of this
situation, refugees in Jordan are the least likely of all
UNRWA areas of operation to own their own homes (Ref C).

Against the Odds
--------------


24. (C) Many of our contacts in the camps assert that
Palestinians will succeed despite their difficult economic
situation. They point to the many professionals and
businessmen who are still considered "sons of the camps" -
people who have broken the cycle of poverty and made their
communities proud. Yet this sentiment is often qualified by
the notion that success will only come if the social and
political structure of Jordan allows people of the camps room
to flourish. A resident of Baqa'a camp told us, "you will
only extend your legs as far as the blanket will cover them."
Ibrahim Natour, of Jebel Hussein camp, is proud of the
successful businessmen who have emerged from the camps over
the years. "We are self-made people," he says. "Can the
children of (the wealthy Amman district of) Abdoun study by
candlelight?" Comment: While the socio-political situation
in the camps exacerbates the cycle of poverty, the rising
cost of living in Jordan impacts East Bankers as well.

AMMAN 00001744 005 OF 005


Residents of the camps often view their situation though a
narrow lens, but fail to grasp the rural poverty in Jordan
that reflects their own plight. End Comment.
Hale