Jordan has been facing a great deal of criticism over its treatment of Iraqis at Jordan’s Queen Alia airport, some of it deserved, some not so much. However, I have not seen many reactions or blog postings hailing Jordan’s decision to allow the entry of Iraqi children into the public schools.
AMMAN — Public schools in the Kingdom are witnessing a heavy turnout of Iraqis residing in the country, who want to enroll their children before classes start next week. Last Monday, the Ministry of Education finalized a decision to allow Iraqi students to study in public schools as of the beginning of this scholastic year, without the prerequisite residency permit.
The decision, which was taken in response to the humanitarian situation the Iraqis are going through, is intended to ensure that Iraqi children have access to education, according to an Education Ministry official. Previously, private schools were accepting Iraqi students, and only Iraqis holding residency permits were allowed to enroll in public schools. "Large numbers of Iraqis are registering their children in schools across the country," Managing Director of General Education and Students Affairs Mohammad Okour told The Jordan Times yesterday. Figures of how many Iraqi school age children have been registered so far are not yet available, he said. According to Okour, some 50,000 Iraqi students are expected to enter the country’s public schools, in addition to 14,000 who are already in the educational system. Source: [The Jordan Times]
In my humble opinion, I think this is a very courageous and noble step by Jordan. I wonder how the expected enrollment of 50,000 Iraqi children will change the makeup of Jordanian public education in the long-run. How will Jordanians react to this huge influx of Iraqis into their children’s schools when there is already a great deal of tension between Jordanians and Iraqis over the refugee issue and others. Only time will tell. Meanwhile, where is the applause?
Update: Here is a quick update from The Jordan Times.
HRW hails acceptance of Iraqis in schools
AMMAN — The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Wednesday welcomed Jordan’s decision to accept all Iraqi school-age children into public schools, but criticised country’s refusal to recognise Iraqis as refugees. In a press release, the group said: "For the first time, Jordan has officially pledged to allow Iraqi children to attend public schools regardless of their residency status." Responding to the statement, a senior official reiterated that Iraqis residing in Jordan do not meet the criteria of refugees as stated in the 1951 convention relating to the status of refugees. Read more.
Jordan would be very, very, smart to be very, very, nice to Iraqis. Already Anbar is stabilizing, and the rest of Iraq is turning. And, did you know, it turns out Saddam had hidden seismic surveys showing about 100 bn bbl of oil in Anbar? So the western Iraqi Sunnis are rich?
Wouldn’t it be better if Iraq liked Jordan? Be nice. It’s good for you.
Its sad, yet mildly amusing, that everyone becomes an expert in moral relativism when shit hits the fan. Get over your idealistic snobbery. The Jordanian government, or any other soverign for that matter, has no other obligation but to its citizens, that is why we have nationalities, that is why you dont see or hear people saying ‘I am a citizen of the world’ short of satires. Because unfortunately, morals dont give you rights, only passports do. The fact that the Jordanian government, along with others, provided a non-obligatory service to a fraction of the Iraqi refugees, thanks are fucking due. There is a difference between the right thing to do and the obligatory thing to do, and again, if you think that the two should always coincide in reality as well as in theory, I urge you to get your heads out of those books for a moment of reflection. The Jordanians are getting crap for mistreating some refugees, rightly so, but conversely, give credit where it is due. Otherwise, I suggest you stop rubbing shoulders with the American soldier that actually put you in this spiral of a crap-shoot that you are currently in. Not that Jordanians are waiting for a thank you from each single Iraqi in the country, but it is, as you vehemently argued, ‘the right thing to do’.
-Hamako
Za, yeah compare France to Jordan, good compariosn, very smart indeed
I wanna compare Jordan to Sri Lanks and ask our government to stop providing vaccinations to kids in school
Applause? That’s only normal, and that’s a shame it was not the case until this decision. Even in France, where “illegals†are chased and kicked out, “illegal†children are allowed to go to public schools.
Queen Noor talks about Iraqian refugees on CNN.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMq903nzTuM
Applaud? Why are they doing it for free or they are getting more and more aid from outside?
Refugees are Jordan’s biggest resource.
USA together with its allied corrupt leaderships occupied Iraq and caused all the troubles in the first place then Iran got envolved and torn the coutry apart, mistakes for which Jordan is held responsible!! Alurduni Alhur has many times refered to the situation of Arab refugees in Jordan !! and plenty others are accusing Jordan of mistreating Arab illegal migrants yet they are allowed public educaton on my and the rest of Jordanians’ expense! and still Jordan is deamon Jordan is cancer Jordan is etc. i wonder what do a USA or UK or OZ based citizens feel after learning the new news which ill put in plain English; Jordanian tax payers are paying for your leaders mistakes, dont you feel ashamed!!? what’s your answer mr. Jeff … before evaluating Jordan’s performance i mean!!
Jordan isnt the UN country which supposed to solve the world troubles and our government is getting paid to care for us … Jordanian citizens not the refugees who come from countries with governments get paid to care for them and spend the whole summer swimming in their Amman based villas !! lets forget about the filthy games they are actually involved in!!?
Alurduni Alhur,
you like to pass judgements don’t you? The illegal immigrants THEMSELVES refer to themselves as illegal immigrants, sometimes they’re called illegal aliens which sounds a bit offensive, but these terms are politically correct.
El3ab ghairha
Well ,the funny thing about iraqian refugees,they have lost thier homes becasue of USA and Saddam.
Saddam has goen and USA is still in iraQ.I have found that, ‘The United States has taken in 190 Iraqian refugees from year passed, according to a document of the government who demonstrates the
monthly numbers that they lower in spite of commitments to accept thousands per October’.
I hope our firends who are America post their commnets in this page and ask jordanians to welcome the refugges,they are ashemaed by this number.
I was student in one of Jordanian schools .I remember the number of students in one class were around 40. The problem here these students will finish one day, how will they find jobs where Jordanians can not find jobs.
We also welcomed our brothers from Palestine and now Iraq. We do not know who is next coming to Jordan…. do we have resources to accept these refugees …I think, this is first step for refugees to be residents in Jordan although we could not solve Palestinian refugees.
I pray to god these refugees will not bring their countries problems to Jordan like what happened in 1970 when Palestinian group attacked capital during September can not compromise the safe in Jordan comparing to other countries.
ARE You optimistic, will these refugees return back to IRAQ one day?I could bet on that by 1 million dollar.
Iraq will never ever be safe place .i hope I am wrong.