Expats returning to Jordan for Eid holiday

AMMAN – More and more Jordanian expatriates are returning home to spend the Eid Al Fitr holiday in the Kingdom. 

On Wednesday, Queen Alia International Airport was packed with people waiting to welcome home family members who live and work abroad. 

Hundreds of people — young and old — were in the airport area designated for those waiting for arrivals. 

Mohammad Rheimi came from the northern city of Jerash to receive his brother at the airport. His brother was coming from Dubai. 

“It’s been almost a year since I last saw him,” he told The Jordan Times, while watching a screen that shows the arrival times of airliners landing at the airport. 

Rheimi said his brother, who works as an accountant in the Gulf emirate, returns to Jordan once a year, usually in summer. 

“For the past three years, his vacation has coincided with Ramadan. It’s a good thing to spend the Eid together with all family members,” he said.

Eid Al Fitr, which starts next Monday or Tuesday, is the Muslim feast marking the end of the fasting month. 

Laith Radaideh was also at the airport accompanied by his two young children. 

He said he was waiting to receive his sister and her children who were due to arrive from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. 

Official figures estimate the number of Jordanian expatriates at around 750,000, the majority of whom live in Arab Gulf states.

Over 300,000 Jordanian professionals are based in Saudi Arabia, followed by the United Arab Emirates with nearly 200,000. 

Jordanians work as doctors, engineers, accountants and bankers in the Gulf, among other professions.

In the summer season, expatriates boost demand for most commodities in the domestic market in addition to their contribution in fuelling the property market. 

Jordanian professionals abroad are also considered an important source of foreign currency inflows into the Kingdom. 

According to Central Bank of Jordan figures, Jordanian expatriate remittances rose at the end of June by 3.1 per cent as they reached $1.850 billion compared with $1.794 billion during the same period last year.