Palestinian Refugee Camps in Jordan:
More than 2 million Palestine refugees live in Jordan.
All Palestine refugees in Jordan have full Jordanian citizenship with the exception of almost 140,000 refugees originally from the Gaza Strip, which up to 1967 was administered by Egypt. They are eligible for temporary Jordanian passports, which do not entitle them to full citizenship rights such as the right to vote and employment with the government.
There are ten official and three unofficial camps, with other refugees living near the camps. They all live under similar socio-economic conditions.
The ten camps in Jordan, which accommodate more than 346,000 registered refugees, or 17 per cent of the 2 million registered refugees in Jordan.
Four camps were set up on the east bank of the Jordan river after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, and six after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. Three other neighbourhoods in Amman, Zarqa and Madaba are considered camps by Jordanian government and "unofficial" camps by UNRWA.
Palestinian Refugee Camps
Amman New Camp, known locally as Wihdat, was one of four camps set up after 1948 to accommodate Palestine refugees who left Palestine as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. The camp was established in 1955 on an area of 0.48 square kilometres, it is located southeast of Amman.
Baqa'a camp was one of six "emergency" camps set up in 1968 to accommodate Palestine refugees and displaced people who left the West Bank and Gaza Strip as a result of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. The camp, which is the largest in Jordan, is located about 20km north of Amman.
Husn camp, known locally as Martyr Azmi el-Mufti camp, was one of the six "emergency" camps set up in 1968 for 12,500 Palestine refugees and displaced people who left the West Bank and Gaza Strip as a result of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. The camp is located 80km north of Amman.
Irbid camp was one of four camps established in Jordan for refugees who left Palestine as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. The camp was set up in 1951 on an area of 0.24 square kilometres, is located near the town of Irbid, in northern Jordan. Originally, it housed 4,000 refugees.
Jabal el-Hussein camp is one of four camps established in Jordan after 1948 to accommodate refugees who left Palestine as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. The camp was set up in 1952 for 8,000 refugees on an area of 0.42 square kilometres, it is located northwest of Amman.
Jerash camp was set up as an "emergency" camp in 1968 for 11,500 Palestine refugees and displaced persons who left the Gaza Strip as a result of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It is known locally as Gaza camp. The camp covers an area of 0.75 square kilometres and is is located 5km from the famous Roman ruins of Jerash.
Marka camp, referred to by the government as Hitten, was established in 1968 on an area of 0.92 square kilometres. The camp is located 10km northeast of Amman.
Souf camp was one of the six "emergency" camps set up for Palestine refugees and displaced people who left the West Bank and Gaza Strip during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. The camp covers an area of 0.5 square kilometres and is near the famous Roman ruins of Jerash, it is located 50km north of Amman.
Talbieh camp was one of six "emergency" camps set up in 1968 for 5,000 Palestine refugees and displaced persons who left the West Bank and Gaza Strip as a result of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. Talbieh was set up on an area of about 0.13 square kilometres, it is located 35km south of Amman. It is the largest camp in terms of state land.
Zarqa camp is the oldest Palestine refugee camp in Jordan, and was one of the four camps established in the country to accommodate the refugees who left Palestine as a result of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. The camp was set up near the town of Zarqa by the International Committee of the Red Cross in 1949. It originally housed 8,000 refugees in an area of 0.18 square kilometres. |
