Syrian Refugees’ Integration Policies in Jordanian Labor Market

Abstract

The Government of Jordan declared that there are more than one million Syrian refugees in Jordan while UNHCR statistics show that the number is about 700,000. Nonetheless, it is still a large problem for Jordan, especially since there is no real solution that seems to be looming on the horizon for the Syrian crisis. Consequently, that means that those refugees’ stay in Jordan is indefinite. This fact requires Jordan to work towards solutions to avoid the warehousing of those refugees in camps and to integrate them in Jordanian community to ease their stay in Jordan. To achieve that integration, Jordan must facilitate the Syrians’ access to the Jordanian labor market so they can achieve self-reliance. In February 2016, donors gathered in London for the ‘Supporting Syria and the Region’ conference, known as the London Conference, to mobilize funding for the needs of the people affected by the Syrian crisis. In that conference, Jordan pledged to facilitate Syrian refugees’ access to the labor market. This paper will study the process of Syrian integration in Jordanian society by discussing the policies and the procedures that Jordan has developed to facilitate the Syrians’ access to the labor market. The event study method combined with interviews and desk research were used to evaluate the new policies and procedures developed to facilitate this access. It was found that Jordan succeeded in creating a legal and procedural environment that facilitates Syrians’ access to formal jobs, and the Syrians went a long way toward integration in Jordan. Nonetheless, they are still not fully integrated.

The Jordan Compact, Refugee Labour and the Limits of Indicator‐oriented Formalization

“…The number of temporary permits is largely kept confidential, but according to informal conversations with livelihoods sector specialists, 72 per cent of the 62,000 permits issued in 2022 were either flexible (∼25,000) or temporary (∼20,000). Much like permits in agriculture and construction, which make up the bulk of the remainder, they cannot be equated with stable or newly created jobs (see also AlShwawra, 2021). But, as the World Bank's (2020) report states quite plainly, the P4R needed an indicator that reflected the informality of the labour market.…”

“…If you take one day off even if you were dying they will deduct this day from your salary’. While awareness campaigns led to small increases in subscriptions, many Syrians still see social security payments as an additional tax that reduces their already low wages, and try to evade the system (AlShwawra, 2021). While including Syrians in social security is in principle a positive step, these systems must be adapted to their needs to be meaningful and effective.…”

The Political Economy of Refugee Integration Policies

“…Jordan's policy towards refugees' socioeconomic integration has shifted from being preventative to more open, advertising it as a 'development opportunity ' (AlShwawra, 2021). This evolution is linked to the protracted nature of the Syrian crisis and Jordan's transition from a humanitarian response to a development-oriented approach under the Syrian Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP) with support from international donors (Zetter & Ruaudel, 2018).…”

Working Poverty and Quality of Employment: The Great Refugee Crisis in Middle Eastern Host Countries

“…In this sense, in most developed societies, poverty and unemployment seem to be mostly the same thing, and social protection systems are therefore designed to support a minimum income floor that encompasses official unemployed status (Kapsos & Bourmpoula, 2013). However, informal employment is the most widespread in developing countries (Saget, 2001;Alshwawra, 2021;Yerrabati, 2023).…”

“…In this regard, migration for labour reasons presents important differences with respect to forced migration and consequently implies a more complex process of integration into the labour market in host countries, although it tends to improve over time (Bakker et al, 2017;Alshwawra, 2021;Araci et al, 2022). This is what the literature calls the "refugee gap" (Bakker et al, 2017).…”