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AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Monday Congratulated Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi for being reelected for a second term, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

During a phone call, His Majesty stressed keenness on bolstering bilateral ties between Jordan and Egypt and enhancing pan-Arab action. Sisi won a second term in office with 97.08 of votes in the country’s presidential elections, while his rival, Musa Mustafa Musa, has won 2.92 per cent of the vote.

AMMAN — The Labour Ministry’s inspection committees on Sunday arrested 131 illegal guest workers during several crackdown campaigns launched across the Kingdom, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The ministry’s inspection director, Menwar Abul Ghanam, said that more similar campaigns are under way to regulate the job market, pointing to the ministry’s efforts in raising employers’ awareness through the inspection agents’ advisory visits.

He explained that the people arrested held expired work permits or worked in jobs different from the ones registered in their permits, stressing that such violations are present in various sectors.

The official called on employers to abide by the Labour Law and rectify the status of guest workers during the grace period which ends on April 5, warning of “immediate deportation” for “illegal” workers.

AMMAN — The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research has awarded 613 scholarships to Jordanian students of various academic levels to study abroad, the ministry’s scholarships and cultural agreements director, Mahmoud Qaisi, said.

Quoted by the Jordan News Agency, Petra, Qaisi said that the Hungarian government provided 400 of these scholarships, while the ministry offered 90 seats through its cultural exchange agreements, through which Jordanian students receive tuition exemptions just like the host country’s local students.

According to ministry figures, 43,000 students have benefitted from scholarships and loans offered by the ministry to study locally or abroad, Petra added.   

AMMAN — The Lower House’s Islamist Reform bloc on Monday met with Interior Minister Samir Mubaidin to discuss several issues related to public freedom and civil liberties, according to a statement published by the bloc.

During the meeting, which was headed by MP Abdullah Akaileh, the bloc members criticised practices such as preventing people from travelling outside the Kingdom by confiscating their passport, tough treatment of suspects’ families during house searches, revoking nationalities, arbitrariness of administrative detention, among other practices.

Mubaidin stressed the ministry’s keenness to deal with the issues “seriously and realistically”, noting that any violation by security agents is unacceptable and will be dealt with transparently.  

AMMAN — Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry on Sunday stressed that the only path for peace and stability in the region is solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the basis of the two-state solution.

During a press conference in Cairo Safadi and Shoukry condemned the Israeli escalation and violence against Palestinians, noting that in the Gaza Friday rallies targeted by Israeli live fire, protesters were exercising their legitimate right to demonstrate against occupation.

They stressed that the international community has to meet its responsibility to protect the Palestinians.

Safadi said that peace does not come through suppression, killing and occupation, but by ending the occupation and guaranteeing the Palestinian people’s right to an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital. 

AMMAN — The total number of visitors to Petra and Jerash, Jordan's key tourist destinations, increased during March by around 50 per cent, compared to the same month of last year, according to officials. 

In Petra, the total number of visitors from all nationalities reached 85,897, including 67,655 foreign visitors, 13,213 Arab and Jordanians and 5,029 school students and fee-exempted groups, according to Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority (PDTRA).  

The number of foreign visitors increased by 60 per cent, while the number of Arabs and Jordanians rose by 44 per cent, PDTRA Chief Commissioner Falah Omoush told The Jordan Times on Sunday.

For Jerash, an ancient Roman town, the total number of visitors from all nationalities was 23,950, compared to 16,750 in March 2017, recording a 50 per cent increase, according to Director of Jerash Antiquities Ziad Ghunimat.

Ticket revenues increased to JD170,150 last month compared with JD110,500 in March 2017, Ghunimat told The Jordan Times on Sunday.      

In 2017, the total number of visitors to Jerash, 45km north of Amman, reached 202,850, including 73,050 Jordanians and 129,800 non-Jordanians, with revenues that amounted to JD1038,400, said Ghunimat.

PDTRA Chief Commissioner Falah Omoush said that the figures are a “clear indicator” that tourism in Petra is recovering, noting that the number of last month’s visitors is the highest in eight years.

Omoush stressed that PDTRA seeks the development of the tourism sector in partnership with the concerned bodies and the local community.

For his part, PDTRA Deputy Chief Commissioner Suleiman Farajat said that the numbers would be a sign of a “very” promising year.

Farajat, who is also PDTRA commissioner of tourism affairs, attributed the hike to various factors, including the collective efforts of the authority and the Tourism Ministry, Jordan Tourism Board and other stakeholders.

To achieve the goal of sustainable tourism growth, the authority is focusing on enhancing the experience of tourists, improving services and upgrading the infrastructure, Farajat told The Jordan Times. 

AMMAN — Jordan is willing to reactivate the free trade agreement with Turkey, which was suspended last month, if Turkey agrees to meet certain conditions, the government said on Sunday.

Officials have recently held a meeting with a Turkish government delegation to look into solutions following the suspension decision, Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply Yarub Qudah told The Jordan Times on Sunday.

The terms, he said, include the Turkish side’s consent to protection measures Jordan will design to protect local industries, increasing Turkish technical assistance to Jordan as stipulated by the FTA and reconsidering the "strict" rules of origin specifications applied by Turkey.

Jordan wants Ankara to adopt the same relaxed rules of origin Jordan enjoys under a deal signed with the EU, the minister said.

“We believe that these measures can ensure justice for both sides and will help protect our industries and make it easier for Jordanian products to enter the Turkish market,” Qudah said.

“The deal was suspended after it was thoroughly re-assessed and proved to have a significant negative impact on the local industries, tilting the trade balance significantly in favour of Turkey,” he continued.

Qudah said the government has no objections against the reactivation of the deal with Turkey if the latter meets the conditions set in this regard.

“We put no obstacles at all and we are open to suggestions to help achieve national interests,” the minister stressed.

Last month’s decision to suspend the bilateral deal was welcomed by industrialists but slammed by traders.

At the time, government officials said that Turkey did not transfer know-how to improve national industries as agreed upon in  the deal, adding that Turkey’s exports to Jordan sharply rocketed after the deal went into effect.

Before 2011, Turkey’s annual exports to Jordan, excluding oil, reached $23 million, with customs fees being collected; after the deal went into effect, Turkish exports to Jordan, excluding oil, reached around $135 million annually, with nothing being disbursed in customs fees to the Treasury, according to the Amman Chamber of Commerce.

AMMAN — The Chief Islamic Justice Department has announced it is implementing a programme to prepare couples for married life, at the end of which they will be given a "marriage license" indicating their "readiness" to get married.

"An average of 80,000 marriage contracts are issued annually in Jordan, while nearly 21,000 cases of divorce are registered each year," Ashraf Omari, adviser to the chief Islamic judge, told The Jordan Times, adding that "couples willing to get married should be aware of how to manage their life soundly before committing to this life-long partnership."

Participating in the new programme is optional for men and women engaged to be married and certificates granted at the conclusion of the programme will not constitute a binding condition for marriage to be completed, he explained. 

"There might be a time in the future when couples will be required to present such a certificate before being issued a marriage contract, among the other required official papers, but this needs legislative changes and taking into account financial considerations," Omari stated, noting that "a proposed law is currently being studied to authorise Sharia [Islamic law] judges to take specified measures to better regulate marriages".

Omari noted that the department has been working for a year-and-a-half on this programme, which includes educational lectures and awareness seminars on four main aspects: marriage-related rights and duties in line with the Sharia law and laws governing family and relevant matters; health aspects of spousal relations; children education and personal communication; and managing household finance.

"Lectures are organised in collaboration with other government institutions including the Ministry of Health as well as professionals such as marriage experts and social counsellors," Omari noted.

“This is a very important initiative and I think it should be mandatory because not all women are aware enough of the various aspects of marriage, and it is better if they receive such information from trusted authorities on the topic,” stressed Shatha Armouty, a woman who recently got engaged.

For psychological and educational adviser Abeer Abu Shaker, “such programmes are needed not only for couples planning to get married but also for all young men and women as they should be aware of such things even before choosing their future partner”.

Abu Shaker urged extending the duration of the programme, because “a few hours may not be sufficient to cover all the issues that need to be covered”.

Omari noted that the plan is still “evolving”, adding that the one-day programme will be evaluated to make the necessary changes in the future. 

The office counts 11 branches across the Kingdom including some inside Azraq and Zaatari refugee camps.

The endgame is to reduce the rate of divorce in society, according to the official

AMMAN — A publication by Human Rights Watch (HRW) has claimed that the campaign recently launched by the Ministry of Interior in collaboration with the UN High Commissioner Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Jordan will hinder Syrians who decide to regularise their status in their access to healthcare services.

Launched on March 4 to formalise the status of Syrian refugees living informally in Jordan's urban areas, the campaign aims to “help these populations be able to benefit from the protection and services provided by UNHCR and its partners in the country, improving their lives, while also being able to stay formally in urban areas,” UNHCR Representative in Jordan Stefano Severe said.

“This will not only prevent any future legal problems related to their legal status in the Kingdom, but also help them access key services such as healthcare, education and access to the labour market,” an official at UNHCR told The Jordan Times recently, adding that the step will also help them access cash assistance available for vulnerable refugee populations.

Risks of clash with previous gov't healthcare decision 

However, HRW claimed that the move might affect the newly regularised Syrians negatively due to a January decision by the government to revoke the eligibility for subsidised healthcare for people living outside of the refugee camps.

“The healthcare decision will require Syrian refugees in urban areas to pay the same rates as other foreigners at public hospitals, with 80 per cent up front. The Syrian refugees had free healthcare from 2012 to 2014, and since then had received the same subsidies as uninsured Jordanians,” the HRW report noted.

For Bill Van Esveld, senior children’s rights researcher at HRW, “the move to regularise the status of Syrian refugees in Jordan’s urban areas means that they no longer have to live underground, promising a better future for their children. Jordan and its international donors should not undermine these improvements by pulling the rug out from under refugees on healthcare that families are already struggling to afford”.

As of March 8, a total of 657,628 of the 1.4 million Syrians living in Jordan were registered as refugees with the UNHCR, 80 per cent of whom live in host communities outside the camps, according to the latest UNHCR figures.

High costs of healthcare, low revenues

Praising the great benefits that the regularisation campaign will bring in terms of access to job, safety from deportation, aid and education, the human rights organisation warned against the danger of “leaving many people unable to afford care”.

In its latest Response Plan for the Syria Crisis 2018-2020, Jordan noted that 36 per cent of urban refugees cannot afford needed medicines or health services. More than three-quarters of Syrian households surveyed in 2017 said that the reason their family members had not been able to get medicine or care for chronic conditions was their inability to afford it. 

Another survey conducted by UNICEF in February 2018 indicated that 45 per cent of Syrian children under the age of 6 are not getting necessary healthcare such as vaccinations, while 85 per cent of them live below the poverty line.

“The regularisation campaign could definitely increase access to education for Syrian refugees, and the ability to live more securely may enable them to improve their ability to succeed academically,” HRW said, pointing out, however, that the change in healthcare could have a dramatic opposite effect.

“Jordanian officials have not explained the change in healthcare policy, but have in the past cited high healthcare costs for Syrian refugees. From the beginning of the Syria conflict to the end of 2016, Jordan said it had spent 1.5 billion dinars on healthcare for Syrian refugees, and estimated direct healthcare costs at over $115 million annually from 2018 to 2020,” HRW stated, highlighting that prior to the January decision, a 2016 Health Ministry decree entitled Syrians to free pre- and post-natal care, family planning and vaccinations. 

Despite repeated calls by The Jordan Times, the Health Ministry did not provide any comment on the issue.

“The refugee law requires countries to ‘accord to refugees lawfully staying in their territory the same treatment with respect to public relief and assistance as is accorded to their nationals,’ including healthcare,” the HRW stated, adding that the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Jordan is a party, also recognises the right to health for all children, without distinction based on nationality or immigration status.

“On March 18, an association of international humanitarian groups in Jordan reported that public health facilities already started not consistently providing healthcare services to Syrian refugees after the January 24 change,” HRW said.

Jordan needs support to provide decent services

Highlighting the burden borne by Jordan in hosting large numbers of refugees, HRW underscored the need for increased international support to Jordan, noting that international humanitarian funding for refugees in Jordan provided only about 66 per cent of healthcare needs in 2017, and half of the overall humanitarian budget. 

“Jordan’s new amnesty should mean less fear, anxiety, and suffering for syrian refugee children and their families, and yet its altered healthcare policy will mean the opposite,” Van Esveld said, stressing, “with support from international donors, Jordan should move towards a coherent approach that ensures all Syrian refugees’ rights and gives Syrian children a meaningful chance at a better future”.

Asked to comment on the issue, a UNHCR official noted that since the launch of the campaign, the agency has been holding discussions with the relevant authorities and partners from the international community to find the appropriate solution to continue responding to refugees’ essential health needs without placing additional stress on already-impoverished families”.

As of March 20, the amnesty campaign attracted over 3,300 Syrians who signed up to register with UNHCR.

AMMAN — A tip by her sister encouraging her to visit Amman triggered in curiosity in Palestinian Ashgan Borjas about the nearby capital. 

Before visiting Jordan, she was not aware of the local art scene hosted in the city. “Once I discovered the number of graffiti, [work] around Amman, it became a major reason for my trips, as I like this kind of painting a lot,” she told The Jordan Times. 

Graffiti has become a “new product” officials can rely on to promote tourism and transform the Kingdom into a chosen destination for tourists all over the world. 

Abed Al Razzaq Arabiyat, managing director of Jordan Tourism Board (JTB), said Jordan has been growing as an art destination. “We added a new product to the country's attractions which is art. We want to promote all kind of art experiences including graffiti for tourists and artists alike,” he told The Jordan Times.

JTB has recently announced the launch of “Art Destination Jordan”, a website offering a glimpse into the modern and traditional art scene in the Kingdom, in partnership with Universes in Universe-Worlds of Art.

Art Destination Jordan is "a unique web product and a sustainable resource for cultural tourism combining contemporary and modern arts and architecture with historical treasures, traditions and cultural heritage of the country", a JTB statement recently e-mailed to The Jordan Times said. 

For Shatha Al Majali, a Jordanian graffiti artist, graffiti can be a magnet to attract people to new places and discover their hidden beauty.

“Graffiti art creates a different environment and gives a spirit to the place hosting it. The art of graffiti is very important as it reflects what’s happening in the street. Graffiti can change an ordinary wall to a special place with an identity and possibly a message that can give you inspiration, hope or even love,” she said.   

In October 2016, Leena Haddad and Dina Toukan teamed up to create an Instagram account dubbed “Amman Street Art”, where they promote local graffiti paintings and artists, without realising they were also being part of the cultural tourism promotional process. 

“We were approached by a Palestinian girl who said she likes to come to Jabal Luweibdeh because of the colours all over the walls,” Toukan told The Jordan Times, while Haddad stressed that the beauty of street art encourages people to head to new locations as they stop by the painting to take photos of it.

“This is the purpose of the page, to create a link between the painting and its artist and the general public,” she added, noting "I believe these paintings existing in the old part of Amman play a role in linking old with modernity."

“When you go to Jabal Amman you can see paintings on the door of an old grocery story, which perfectly illustrates the modernity living side by side with old venues,” Toukan said, adding, “when going to a gallery, you might pay less attention to paintings, while when you see such huge paintings on a wall, it will attract you to the area and make you visit it many times just to enjoy watching this masterpiece.” 

Jovana Kvrzic, a tourist from Serbia, said graffiti did help her discover new areas in Amman and meet new people as she was exploring the city's new landmarks. 

“Graffitis have their own story to tell. They are very important especially if they are made by local artists. Sometimes, I just go to some places because I heard they have cool street art,” she told The Jordan Times.  

Palestinian Borjas echoed the idea, saying, “I support graffiti art because it beautifies the city and can help boost tourism by motivating people to learn more about their heritage. This is especially true if these works of art highlight the area’s peace, love and human values.” 

Al Majali noted that officials can invest in the art of graffiti through supported programmes that highlight and promote specific places. This can improve the environment not only for tourists but also for local residents, she stressed.