Jordan Times
Monday, May 7, 2007
Iraqi expatriates costing
Jordan $1 billion annually — Interior Ministry
Economists differ on estimated losses
By Linda Hindi
AMMAN — Iraqi nationals in the Kingdom are costing Jordan $1 billion a year,
according to preliminary estimates recently released by the Interior Ministry.
The billion-dollar budget burden was first revealed in April during a UN
conference in Geneva designed to raise awareness on the Iraqi refugee crisis and
its effect on neighbouring countries that have absorbed them.
“Our initial investigation estimates that the overall cost of hosting Iraqi
nationals on our national budget is no less than $1 billion,” Interior Ministry
Secretary General Mkhaimar Abu Jamous told The Jordan Times.
According to the 2007 budget, capital expenditure (mostly spending on
infrastructure) is expected to exceed JD1 billion for the first time, whereas
current expenditure was forecast to cost the country JD3.3 billion, noting that
the bulk of current expenditures are civil servant salaries and pensions.
Final figures cannot be released until FAFO — a Norwegian agency contracted to
conduct a survey on Iraqis in Jordan — defines the exact number of Iraqis in the
Kingdom and identifies their living conditions, financial status and needs.
Bisher Al Khasawneh, the newly appointed director general of the Jordan
Information Centre, who was previously in charge of the Jordanian supervisory
team for the study, told The Jordan Times that the survey is expected to be
completed in the first half of July.
During the ministry official’s address to more than 450 delegates from 60
countries at the Geneva conference, Abu Jamous explained that the bulk of
spending is being directed towards the water, energy, health and education
sectors, which are subsidised by the government.
He noted that Jordan is one of the poorest countries in the world in water
resources, while power and basic infrastructure services are being upgraded to
keep up with the continuously increasing demand, and that Iraqi nationals have
equal access to these services.
But according to Jordanian economist Yusuf Mansur, the numbers simply don’t add
up.
Mansur explained that if the estimated 1 million Iraqis residing in Jordan are
costing $1 billion, then (assuming they are equally treated) the 5.5 million
population should be costing the country $5.5 billion, which is not the case.
“I challenge anyone to come up with a number higher than JD200 million ($282.3
million) annually, that is if one million Iraqis are all being subsidised for
water, energy, school and health services… plus we haven’t seen any major
infrastructure changes in Jordan besides the Amman ring road which has been in
the planning for 10 years,” Mansur told The Jordan Times.
The columnist disputed the extra energy cost, since the “government is expected
to make a surplus of JD167 million this year from oil derivatives and is
therefore not subsidising anyone.”
“We cannot look at this as a one-sided problem and not attribute the benefits we
have seen from the surging population. Iraqis have spent tons of money in the
Kingdom and are partly behind the boost in the stock market and real estate… if
we calculate money the government received in visas alone we are talking around
JD50 million,” he said.
Mansur claimed that the impact on Jordan would be tremendous if all Iraqis left,
adding that with “proper strategic planning” the government could turn this into
a profitable opportunity.
“Allowing more Iraqi nationals to enjoy full residency means that they will
work, contribute, pay taxes and Jordan will benefit further,” he said.
Economist Fahed Fanek, however, said $1 billion was a “reasonable” figure.
Fanek, who is chairman of the Jordan Press Foundation, pointed out that an
unexpected 15 per cent population increase, with the majority concentrated in
Amman, has created havoc in the capital.
“All of our services have been under pressure, for example phone lines, energy
and water… the extra water-distribution is a major problem in itself in a
water-poor country,” Fanek told The Jordan Times.
He added that energy prices rose 35 per cent in one year and the capital’s
infrastructure is not equipped to handle this kind of major population surge in
such a short time.
“We must also take into account all the added security measures the government
is paying for… this adds up,” Fanek added.
In his speech, Abu Jamous said: “Jordan deals with Iraqis based on our historic
friendly relationship and the Kingdom’s political will and leadership to provide
assistance and humanitarian services to neighbouring countries despite our
limited resources, in addition to the burden placed on Jordanians having to deal
with consecutive waves of refugees.”
The Interior Ministry secretary general pointed out that despite the country’s
meagre resources, Iraqi guests have access to the public heath system and
education institutions for a token fee.
Any child who holds a residency permit is accepted into public schools and
official figures place 40,000 non-Jordanian students in public institutions.
But a government source told The Jordan Times that around 50,000 Iraqi children,
with or without residency permits, are in some of Jordan’s 3,200 schools.
“We have already reached our limits… as you know most public schools run on the
double-shift system,” the source said.
Positive response
The overall response to UN pleas for international recognition of the “human
tragedy being ignored,” was positive at the conference, with neighbouring
countries promising to keep their borders open and most European and Western
countries pledging to allocate funds and accept more refugees for resettlement.
“The meeting was not a ‘pledging funds’ conference. It was meant to gather
decision-makers, NGOs and donor countries to highlight the problem and create
partners to focus on the road ahead,” Astrid van Genderen Stort, UNHCR senior
information officer, said.
Stort told The Jordan Times that the agency expects clearer figures and
“hopefully more pledges” from the international community in the coming weeks,
adding that the only solid figure committed was from the Iraqi government, which
promised $25 million for its citizens in neighbouring countries.
“I think it is a commendable first step by the Iraqi government to allocate
resources under the magnitude of problems they face … even if it is a drop in
the bucket,” she said.