CMENAS 2024 Fall Colloquium Series. The Evolution of the Palestinian Refugee Camps in Jordan

The presentation analyses the political and socioeconomic issues raised by the evolution of the camps' physical and social infrastructure in Jordan since their establishment in the wake of the 1948 and 1967 Arab-Israeli wars. In so doing, the presentation tackles the gradual development and integration of camps in their local environment, discussing the way camp refugees, together with the international (UNRWA) and Jordanian stakeholders have dealt with the dilemmas posed by such integration : how develop camps in line with the evolving needs of the refugees while guaranteeing their temporary nature in the name of the “right of return”, as supported by numerous UN resolutions? Conversely, how reconcile the preservation of the camps, with their generally substandard infrastructure and socially-strained social relations, and the country’s drive towards urban modernization ? The presentation will also address the « camps’ society » : To what extent do camp refugees constitute specific communities, socially/politically distinct from neighbouring communities?

Jalal Al Husseini is an associate research fellow in political sociology at the French Institute for the Near East (IFPO). Based in Amman since 1997, he has specialized in refugee assistance and labor market issues. Holder of a PhD obtained at the Graduate Institute of International Studies (Geneva), with a doctoral dissertation on the political dimensions of UNRWA’s mandate, he is the author of numerous published academic articles and policy-oriented reports, and the editor of several collective books including Palestinians between State and Diaspora: uncertainty times (2011) and Palestine in Networks (2020) and Migrations in Jordan: Reception Policies and Settlement Strategies (2024). He has also consulted with various international organizations, including UNRWA, the EU, the ILO and foreign cooperation agencies, on legal status and livelihoods issues specific to the Palestinian and Syrian refugees and their host communities in Jordan and in the Middle East.