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ZAATARI REFUGEE CAMP — The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Filippo Grandi on Sunday said that there has not been any decision whatsoever to cut the aid to UNHCR or any other organisation providing support to the Syrian refugees in Jordan.

Speaking at a press conference at Zaatari refugee camp, Grandi lamented Washington’s decision to reduce assistance to UNRWA.

“We [UNHCR] hope for the decision to cut the aid to UNRWA to be halted soon, as Jordan is the country hosting the largest number of Palestinian refugees.” 

The commissioner initiated on Sunday a three-day visit to Jordan as part of a broader mission including Lebanon, Turkey and Syria, aimed at meeting with government officials and refugee families across the region. 

“This is my third visit to Jordan and it is not by chance that the Kingdom is my first stop in this regional tour,” the commissioner said during a press conference held on Monday, noting that “Jordan has been a home for refugees for over 70 years now, becoming an example to the world in its hospitality and its willingness to grant protection to the most vulnerable.”

Grandi visited the Zaatari refugee camp on Monday, where he toured the Zaatari Office for Employment and the Solar Plant accompanied by UNHCR Representative in Jordan Stefano Severe and UNHCR Head of Communications Melissa Fleming.

“The Solar Power Plant  installed at the camp is a proof of the space that Jordan allocates for technology in its humanitarian response,” the commissioner said during the visit, underlining “the importance of finding new ways to respond to the crisis in the current circumstances.” 

Regarding the Zaatari Office for Employment, Grandi commended Jordan’s “efforts to integrate refugees in the community,” noting that “thanks to this initiative, thousands of refugees are able to get work permits and displace in and out of the refugee camp on a daily basis.”

Looking forward to the upcoming weeks on the regional tour, the commissioner highlighted that the date of his entry in Syria will mark the commencement of the 8th year in conflict, expressing that “the sprawling camp [Zaatari] that is now behind me shows the dimensions that this war is reaching, as we witness an extended failure on the political actions that the concerned states are taking to find solutions to this conflict.” 

“Countries like Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq and Egypt are making big efforts to support the refugees during the ongoing crisis and they shall not be forgotten by the international community,” Grandi continued, calling on donors “to pledge funds to these countries and consider the responsibility that the host communities are taking.” 

Responding to queries over the assistance to Syrians in the Bern — a strip of no-man’s land on the Syrian border — Grandi stressed that “the individuals stranded in this area are internally displaced within Syria, and therefore, it is the Syrian government who holds responsibility for them,” adding that “we [UNHCR] acknowledge that their control over the situation is limited, and we will put all of our energy along with the concerned stakeholders to find a solution for them.”

Concluding his visit, the commissioner noted that “as the Syrian conflict develops, more and more refugees will continue to escape a country with closed borders,...all countries must be accessible to humanitarian organisations without exception.” 

AMMAN —   The Criminal Court prosecutor on Monday was questioning a Kenyan woman in connection with the alleged murder of a 31-year-old Sudanese refugee in downtown Amman a day earlier, official sources said. 

The victim identified by officials as Bakri H., who owned a barbershop with an Iraqi man, was found dead at his house in the downtown area on Sunday, a senior judicial source who is close to the investigations said. 

“Our initial investigation indicated that the Kenyan woman who resided with the victim was the prime suspect in the incident,” the senior judicial source told The Jordan Times. 

The judicial source said investigators are “looking for a motive behind the murder”.

 “We questioned the woman and she did not deny killing the suspect but told us that 'maybe' she did it. So we still have no clear motive behind the murder,” the judicial source said. 

Most likely the suspect will be charged with murder, the judicial source maintained, but “we are waiting on lab results and are questioning more people and witnesses in the case”.  

A postmortem conducted by a team of pathologists at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine indicated that the victim died of strangulation, a senior medical source said. 

“Blood and tissue samples taken from the victim were sent to the criminal lab for further analysis,” the medical source told The Jordan Times.

A close friend to the victim told The Jordan Times that the victim, who has been registered as a refuge at UNHCR since 2013, was "liked by everyone who knew him". 

“He was a friend to everyone who knew him. He was very kind and all the men knew him because we always went to his shop,” the close friend, who preferred not be identified, told The Jordan Times.

A second friend also said that “it is rare to find someone with his quality because he is like a brother to us”. 

“His saloon is a place for us to meet and talk about issues that concern us.  He also tries to help everyone in any way possible, and would even give the needy money to help them,” the second friend told The Jordan Times.

Both men expressed their shock over the incident stressing that "Bakri had no enemies and was always loved by everyone".

An official at the Sudanese embassy in Amman told The Jordan Times that the embassy is following up on the incident with the Jordanian authorities.  

“We have strong faith in the Jordanian authorities and are hopeful they will reach a conclusion in this case and inform us,” the official said. 

The official added that the next of kin in Sudan were notified about the death and “we are waiting on his family’s decision whether to bury him here or in Sudan”.

AMMAN — Jordan has eased visa restrictions on Indian national, who can now obtain a visa at the border crossings, in a bid to encourage incoming investments from the subcontinent. 

The Jordan Investment Commission (JIC) announced Monday that it had confirmed the new measure with the Interior Ministry, noting in a statement carried by the Jordan News Agency, Petra, that Indians can now receive visas directly through Jordanian diplomatic missions or choose to obtain a visa upon entry. 

The eased restrictions will facilitate the entry of Indian businesspeople and boost the tourism movement, in addition to increasing Indian investment volume and saving effort and time of investors, according to JIC.

The commission added that the government is keen on developing economic and trade ties between the two countries, noting that India is the third biggest economic partner of the Kingdom after the US and China.

Jordan is a gateway for Indian investors to access the Gulf countries, Syria and Iraq, the commission said, adding that India is among top investors in Jordan’s fertilisers and garment sectors.  

The subcontinent imports large amounts of potash, fertilisers and phosphoric acid from the Kingdom, while it exports frozen meat, tea, coffee, sugar, rice, garment, tobacco, electrical devices and chemicals, among others.

AMMAN — At the age of 15, Hiba dropped out of school to marry a man 10 years older than her, leading her to a life she did not expect. 

“It has always been common in my town to get married at a young age, so, for me, it seemed like it was just the way it was supposed to be,” the woman, who is now 22 years old, told The Jordan Times in a recent interview at the Jordanian Women’s Union (JWU), noting that “there is this whole concept around marriage that it will just make your life easier — that you will not have to wake up early to study anymore, that everything will be done for you — but it is not like that".

“A few weeks into the marriage, I started realising how my freedom was gone,” she remembered, recalling how her husband and in-laws started to control the way she dressed and the places she was allowed to go.

“I had to start wearing niqab and jilbab even though I did not want to, and I was not allowed to go to the supermarket alone, not to mention working,” Hiba said. 

The nightmare did not stop there. Three years after the marriage, Hiba had to give into the family’s insistence that she get pregnant although she recalled "I did not want to have a baby with him."

Hiba is only one of the thousands of girls who fall victims to child marriage every year in Jordan, where child marriage rates have increased from 9.5 per cent in 2011 to 11.6 per cent in 2015, according to a study by the Higher Population Council.

For Hiba, however, there was still a way out. Soon after giving birth to her daughter, Hiba’s husband agreed to a divorce. 

“My uncle found out about the way he was treating me and after several talks with the family, I was finally able to get away from this marriage,” she recalled. 

“At last, I was able to recover my freedom. I moved back to my parents' house and decided to look for a job to sustain myself,” she continued. Her passion for hair and makeup pushed her to sign up for a vocational training programme in beauty skills run by the JWU. 

“At the beginning, I did not think I could make it, but I decided to keep on going and it turns out I succeeded,” Hiba said. 

Now, Hiba works in a JWU-run salon which trains and employs vulnerable women, where she has secured a long list of loyal customers and a steady income.

During the aftermath of the divorce and a prolonged dispute on the custody of her daughter, Hiba was able to find a safe place after reaching out to the hotline — a JWU service providing free legal advice, counselling and care for vulnerable women. 

Lama Al Sad, a gender-based violence (GBV) associate at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) providing support to the hotline, told The Jordan Times that “survivors of child marriage need a helping hand because it impacts every part of their lives, from their health to their education”, adding that “UNFPA is working with partners to empower child marriage survivors and provide them with health, social and legal services so they can regain control of their lives”.

Alia Heelan, a social worker at the JWU, pointed out that “we have to take into account that, in this society, there is a wall of shame surrounding the girls who ask for help”, stressing that “we deal with each case in a specific way and there are several levels to work through, from empowering the girls to fight for their rights to dealing with their families and involving them in the solution to the issue”. 

“We rely on very well-trained teams who gather information about the family members that we have to deal with in each case, and we work through the situation slowly and peacefully until we find a solution,” she added, stressing that “the hotline is available 24 hours a day and we never give up on a case”. 

In addition, Heelan highlighted the availability of JWU shelters, “open to all women regardless of their nationality, religion or ethnicity, where vulnerable girls can find a safe place until their situation is sorted without having their freedom constricted”.

JERASH — Bus operators ferrying passengers between Jerash and Irbid agreed on not raising fares and demanded subsidies, a stakeholder said.

The government has raised fares of public transportation of medium and large public buses, and all taxis by 10 per cent as of February 7.

Adnan Bayan, a bus company owner, told The Jordan Times on Monday: "We agreed to keep fares unchanged although it is harmful to us.  We are recording losses and the recent government's increase is not enough."

However, "after a meeting with Land Transport Regulatory Commission (LTRC) Director General Salah Lozi, we agreed on keeping the fares as they are [JD1] to be on the side of commuters, who are mainly students", said Bayan.

Around 98 per cent of Jerash-Irbid passengers are students, according to the company owner.

The drivers seek support from the government not from students, said Bayan, adding that Jerash-Irbid and Jerash-Amman bus companies and individuals were pledged to be included in the subsidies provided to university students.

LTRC provides subsidised fares for buses that ferry students to some universities and will work on including all public universities, according to LTRC Media and Communications Manager Ablah Wishah. 

Wishah told The Jordan Times that the LTRC currently supports students of the universities of Al Albayt, the Jordan University of Science and Technology, Al Hashimiya and Al Hussein by subsidising 50 per cent of the fares.

Most of vehicles ferrying passengers between Jerash and Irbid are operated by individuals not companies, which makes it difficult to deliver the subsidies, Wishah said.

Lozi has said that increasing the fares was made after the LTRC studied all changes related to fuel prices and inflation rates that placed additional burdens on operators through hikes in operational costs and a decrease in revenues, which in turn negatively affected the quality of service due to negligence of maintenance issues, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

The LTRC is responsible for the transport sector and providing incentives to operators, as well as boosting investments, according to the commission.

The transport sector accounts for 26 per cent of the gross domestic product, and investments related to it are “large and fruitful”, Lozi said in previous remarks, noting that some of the challenges facing the sector are due to the fact that operators tend to be individuals rather than companies.

AMMAN – Lower House Speaker Atef Tarawneh told the Jordan Press Association (JPA) on Monday that the recently announced measures aim at regulating and not limiting journalists' coverage of the Chamber's sessions.

JPA President Rakan Saaideh said that he received assurances from Tarawneh that no limitations are to be imposed on reporters covering the House's sessions and activities as per the new regulations announced on Sunday. 

"Tarawneh voiced keenness on safeguarding press freedoms," Saaideh told The Jordan Times. 

The House announced on Sunday that media coverage of the sessions will only be from the reporters’ room, up in the gallery, under the new instructions under which photojournalists can stay up to five minutes under the Dome after a session begins to take photos. 

Reporters’ presence under the Dome, in the corridors and in meeting rooms is now prohibited under the new instructions.

Saaideh also said that he received assurances from Tarawneh that no soundproof glass wall will be installed in the reporters’ room in the gallery.

In its Sunday's announcement, the House said that a soundproof glass wall is to be installed around the public gallery overlooking the debating chamber. 

"Tarawneh said that the gallery will be lifted up a bit to decrease the noise attendees produce during sessions," Saaideh said.

Saaideh also said that he agreed with Tarawneh to always maintain coordination on issues related to reporters' coverage of the House's sessions and events.

AMMAN - The Arab Potash Company (APC) and the Norwegian chemical company, Yara International ASA, have signed a memorandum of understanding, under which the two partners would invest an estimated $200 million to fund a new production line and help market APC’s downstream products worldwide.

The agreement comes as part of a plan to increase the production of APC’s Aqaba-based subsidy, Arab Fertilisers and Chemicals Industries Co. (KEMAPCO) of potassium nitrate fertilisers by 175,000 tonnes, raising the gross production to 350,000 tonnes, through building a new factory with up-to-date production line, according to an APC statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times on Monday.

The memo stipulates that Yara markets part of the KEMAPCO production on international markets, excluding local and regional markets, and provides KEMAPCO with technical and environment support related to potassium nitrate production. 

The production segment in Yara is a “world leading producer of nitrates, calcium nitrate, NPKs, global number two in ammonia and a growing portfolio of phosphates, providing the foundation for Yara’s crop nutrition and industrial solutions”, according to the Yara website.

KEMAPCO has a plant production capacity of 135,000 tonnes annually of water-soluble potassium nitrate fertiliser, which will go up to 175,000 tonnes after the completion of an expansion project that started two years ago, according to the statement. 

The Aqaba plant extends over an area of 140 dunums adjacent to the port, run by 255 employees. Last year, the company built the first water desalination station on the Red Sea to secure the needed quantities of pure water at a capacity of 500 cubic metres per hour. 

Following the signing ceremony, APC Board Chairman Jamal Sarayrah said that the agreement with Yara would contribute to increasing the international market share of KEMAPCO, and push it to the third place globally in manufacturing potassium nitrate fertiliser.

APC, a public shareholding company, is the eighth largest potash producer worldwide by volume of production and the sole producer of potash in the Arab World.  By the end of September last year, the company reported JD65 million in net profit after taxes, provisions and royalties till the end of the third quarter of last year, an increase of 30 per cent over the same period of 2016.

AMMAN — The Kingdom on Tuesday will be affected by unstable weather conditions, according to a JMD statement. There will be heavy rainfall across the Kingdom accompanied by thunder and lightning with the chance of flooding in valleys and low altitudes areas.

On Tuesday night there will be low chances of rainfall, the statement added.

AMMAN — Jordan’s Ambassador to Kenya Suleiman Arabiyat and President of the Kenyan Senate Kenneth Makelo Lusaka on Monday discussed means to develop ties between both countries’ senates.

They also reviewed cooperation at international events, coordination of stances on regional and international issues and the possibility of forming a parliamentary friendship committee, the Jordan New Agency, Petra, reported.

AMMAN — Water Ministry personnel, accompanied by security forces, have conducted raids on farms after receiving tip-offs of illegal wells being used to pump thousands of cubic metres of water to irrigate plants in Irbid, Mafraq and Amman.

The illegal wells were sealed and the ministry personnel prepared reports to be referred to court in order to proceed with legal action, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The ministry banned the drilling of wells in 1998 to limit random pumping of water, in order to preserve aquifers from depletion and salinity.