I’ve recently arrived in Jordan to begin fieldwork for my
PhD research, looking at hosting practices for refugees in urban Amman, and how
humanitarian assistance influences these relationships during situations of
long-term displacement.
Jordan has received one of the highest numbers of refugees
from the on-going Syrian conflict. According to UNHCR, Jordan is the second
largest host of refugees per capita in the world. In addition to the Syrian
refugee population, Jordan also hosts refugees from Palestine, Iraq, Sudan,
Somalia, and Yemen, as well as smaller populations from many other countries. While
refugees continue to arrive in Jordan many people are in long-term displacement
situations, having been in Jordan for years. These features make Jordan an interesting
context in which to understand the changing nature of relationships between
refugees and their hosts as displacement becomes increasingly protracted. Given
the strength of familial and tribal ties between Jordan and its Arab
neighbours, it is also interesting to explore potential differences in hosting
arrangements between refugees and hosts from different national groups.
While media attention and much of the humanitarian response
remains focused on the large refugee camps of Zaatari and Azraq, up to ninety
per cent of refugees live outside of camps. The situation for many families in
Amman is critical – up to ninety-three percent of Syrian refugees outside of
camps live in extreme poverty, and there is only limited assistance available
for non-Syrian refugees. The presence of refugees in urban areas and the
importance of their host families has been recognised by the Jordanian
authorities and humanitarian actors. Important lessons on how to provide
humanitarian assistance in urban settings are emerging from Jordan, and there
is an increasing awareness of the vital role of hosts in supporting refugee
families. Despite this recognition, there is little understanding of the
personal relationships and household-level dynamics between refugees and their
hosts.
Jordan is not a party to the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees,
nor its 1967 Protocol. Many Jordanians are proud of their reputation for
hospitality, and the influence of Arabic and Islamic traditions of hospitality
are evident in day-to-day and policy discourse regarding refugees in Jordan. At
the everyday level, this hospitality can be seen in the relations between
refugees and their hosts. Host families may provide material, financial, or
social and emotional support for refugees, and often continue this support well
past the moment of crisis, facilitating refugees to integrate with the host
community, and to become independent while in displacement. For many, “host
family” conjures an image of a refugee family and a host family sharing a space,
acting a household, who identify themselves to be in a hosting relationship.
This understanding does not capture the full range of supportive relationships
between hosts and refugees in Jordan, and does not respond to the shifting
dynamics of refugee-host relations as displacement becomes protracted. A
broader perspective on hosting practices allows us to consider the range of
social relations which may be engaged in by refugees and hosts, and the
potential for strategies to overlap.
Hosting relationships are not easily characterizable nor
perceived in the same way by all participants. Existing research has focused on
community level relations, but seems to be little in-depth research into the different
types of relationship between hosts and refugees, nor the experience of being a
hosted or of hosting a displaced family. Situating my research in Jordan allows
me to understand how hosting practices are maintained and developed in contexts
of protracted displacement, and provides an opportunity to explore local
traditions and practices of humanitarian assistance and hospitality and their
impact on refugee hosting practices.
In my first few weeks in Amman, I will be meeting with staff
from international organisations and local NGOs, asking them to share their
knowledge on the current state of humanitarian engagement with urban refugees
and host families in situations of protracted displacement in Amman, and to
provide their feedback on my research design. In the following months, I will
continue working with humanitarian organisations and community centres to speak
to refugees and hosts about their current living arrangements, their
experiences of living in Amman, and their interaction with humanitarian actors.
From this, I hope to be able to identify common patterns and experiences in
different people’s hosting arrangements, as well as beginning to explore the
differences between people’s experiences, and some of the reasons behind this.
No comments:
Post a Comment