Jordan Times
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
HRW report on Iraqis in Jordan baseless — gov’t
By Khalid Neimat
AMMAN — The government on Monday criticised Human Rights Watch (HRW) and said a
report the organisation planned to publish today on Iraqis in Jordan was
“baseless, inaccurate and unrealistic”.
Government Spokesperson Nasser Judeh said he was surprised that HRW wanted
Jordan to indiscriminately consider hundreds of thousands of Iraqis in the
country as refugees, although, he added, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
is the authorised body to classify who is a refugee.
According to the agency, a refugee is “a person who is outside his/her country
of nationality or habitual residence; has a well-founded fear of persecution
because of his/her race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular
social group or political opinion; and is unable or unwilling to avail
himself/herself of the protection of that country, or to return there, for fear
of persecution”.
During their most recent visit to Jordan to study the situation of the Iraqis in
the country and attempt to determine who among those Iraqis would qualify as
refugees, UNHCR representatives said they expected that number to be around
1,000, according to Judeh.
He said HRW relied on “unfounded” information, and its report was “baseless,
inaccurate and unrealistic”.
“HRW claimed that Jordan restricted visa applications for Iraqis. Iraqis do not
require visas to enter Jordan, but need residency permits,” Judeh told reporters
at a weekly press briefing.
A spokesperson for the New York-based rights watchdog told Agence France-Presse
that HRW will comment on Judeh’s remarks at the launch of its report Tuesday at
a news conference in Amman.
A statement by the group said the report was “based on in-depth interviews with
Iraqis living in Jordan”.
“The report describes how the Jordanian government turns a blind eye to people
who would qualify as refugees, refusing to grant them asylum,” the statement
said.
Jordan granted entry, according to UN figures, to between 500,000 and 700,000
Iraqis. Those same estimates put more than 800,000 Iraqis in Syria, and about
100,000 displaced persons in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
UNHCR representative in Amman Robert Breen told The Jordan Times that government
denies entry to certain individuals for security reasons.
Otherwise, Iraqis can enter Jordan on renewable six-month residency and their
children can enroll in state schools free of charge, officials said.
Judeh rejected HRW allegations that some have been deported from the country.
“Of course there are border controls at the frontier itself on the grounds of
preserving national security, but there are no deportations,” he was quoted as
saying.