• Text size Normal size text | Increase text size by 10% | Increase text size by 20% | Increase text size by 30%
  • Also available in French

Jordan: Iraqi refugee children start school

Briefing Notes, 21 August 2007

This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 21 August 2007, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

Last weekend thousands of young Iraqis started enrolling in schools in Jordan after the government decided to let all Iraqi refugee children in the country attend public schools regardless of whether their parents have residency permits or not.

We warmly welcome this generous decision and the positive impact it will have on the lives of thousands of refugee children. We also hope to see strong support from the international community for the joint UNHCR-UNICEF education appeal for $129 million launched in late July aimed at getting an additional 155,000 uprooted Iraqi children in Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon back to school. So far, funding has been slow to come in although there are good indications that money will be forthcoming.

In Jordan, the school registration process began last Sunday at the start of the academic year. The Jordanian Ministry of Education has said that at least 50,000 Iraqi students are expected to enrol in schools across the country. They will have until September 15 to register.

Iraqi children will follow the same curriculum as Jordanian students and will have access to the same school facilities. Depending on needs, the programme will include primary, secondary and vocational training as well as non-formal education, where applicable.

In some schools, children are being placed on a waiting list and referred to schools running double shifts – tutoring one group of students in the morning and a second group in the afternoon. Upon the completion of the registration process, the Jordanian Ministry of Education will assess needs, recruit new teachers and staff and arrange double-shift programmes in overcrowded schools.

More than 30 schools have been identified in the capital Amman to operate double shifts and more will be chosen in the cities of Zarqa and Irbid. An additional 2,500 teachers will be recruited in the next two weeks to handle the increasing number of students.

Jordan hosts an estimated 750,000 Iraqi refugees. Most have fled violence in their country since 2003 and about half are believed to be children, who have not been able to gain access to education in Jordan unless their parents had a residency permit or paid fees. UNHCR welcomes the continued generosity of both the Jordanian and Syrian governments. The two main host countries have borne a heavy burden caring for hundreds of thousands of Iraqis.

Under the joint education appeal UNHCR and UNICEF presented a plan to support host governments in providing Iraqis with an education for the 2007-08 academic year. Specific activities include providing prefab classrooms and buildings; identifying existing buildings that can be used as temporary schools; upgrading water and sanitation in schools; building new schools and/or additional classrooms; and rehabilitating existing facilities.

Many children have missed several years of schooling and special remedial programmes and psycho-social support will be established for them and their families in the hope of reintegrating them back into the school system. Special training will be provided to school counsellors and teachers in dealing with the special needs of Iraqi children, many who have been witness to extreme violence.

Despite this development, many Iraqis still face barriers to education as many families are running out of resources and sending their children out to work, especially in female headed households. In addition, some vulnerable Iraqis are unwilling to register their children at state schools because they do not have legal status in Jordan.

• DONATE NOW • • GET INVOLVED • • STAY INFORMED •

 

Related Stories

more documents

UNHCR country pages

UNHCR Iraq Fact Sheet

Camp New Iraq (formerly Camp Ashraf) residents and the determination of their refugee status claims

UNHCR Jordan Fact Sheet

The internally displaced of Iraq

Eight years after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, over 1.5 million people remain displaced throughout Iraq, including 500,000 who live in dire conditions in settlements or public buildings. For these very vulnerable people, daily life is a struggle with limited access to clean water, electricity, heath services or schools for their children. Many families who live illegally in informal settlements are at risk of eviction. Most of the internally displaced fled their homes because of sectarian violence which erupted in 2006 following the bombing of the Al-Askari shrine in Samarra. UNHCR works with the Government of Iraq on projects such as land allocation; shelter assistance and house reconstruction to try to find long term solutions for the displaced.

The internally displaced of Iraq

Al Tanf: Leaving No Man's Land

In February 2010, the last 60 Palestinian inhabitants of the squalid camp of Al Tanf on the Syria-Iraq border were ushered onto buses and taken to another camp in Syria.

Al Tanf camp was established in May 2006, when hundreds of Palestinians fleeing persecution in Iraq tried in vain to cross into Syria. With no country willing to accept them, they remained on a strip of desert sandwiched between a busy highway and a wall in the no-man's-land between Iraq and Syria.

Along with daily worries about their security, the residents of Al Tanf suffered from heat, dust, sandstorms, fire, flooding and even snow. The passing vehicles posed another danger. At its peak, Al Tanf hosted some 1,300 people.

UNHCR encouraged resettlement countries to open their doors to the Palestinians. Since 2008, more than 900 of them have been accepted by countries such as Belgium, Chile, Finland, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The last group of Palestinians were transferred to Al Hol camp in Syria, where they face continuing restrictions and uncertainty.

Al Tanf: Leaving No Man's Land

UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie meets Iraqi refugees in Syria

UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie returned to the Syrian capital Damascus on 2 October, 2009 to meet Iraqi refugees two years after her last visit. The award-winning American actress, accompanied by her partner Brad Pitt, took the opportunity to urge the international community not to forget the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees who remain in exile despite a relative improvement in the security situation in their homeland. Jolie said most Iraqi refugees cannot return to Iraq in view of the severe trauma they experienced there, the uncertainty linked to the coming Iraqi elections, the security issues and the lack of basic services. They will need continued support from the international community, she said. The Goodwill Ambassador visited the homes of two vulnerable Iraqi families in the Jaramana district of southern Damascus. She was particularly moved during a meeting with a woman from a religious minority who told Jolie how she was physically abused and her son tortured after being abducted earlier this year in Iraq and held for days. They decided to flee to Syria, which has been a generous host to refugees.

UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie meets Iraqi refugees in Syria

Iraq: Harsh LivingPlay video

Iraq: Harsh Living

There are more than 350 settlements for internally displaced people in Iraq.The living conditions in most of them are dire.
Iraq: Brick by BrickPlay video

Iraq: Brick by Brick

In Iraq, where more than 2 million people remain displaced, UNHCR has launched a home renovation project to assist returns.
Angelina Jolie in IraqPlay video

Angelina Jolie in Iraq

During a day-long visit to Baghdad, UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie visited a makeshift settlement for internally displaced people in the Chikook suburb of north-west Baghdad where she met with four families displaced from the district of Abu Ghraib and from the western suburbs of the Iraqi capital.