Overall majority of Jordanians sympathetic towards refugees — UNHCR survey

AMMAN — Ninety-six per cent of Jordanians are sympathetic towards refugees escaping conflict and prosecution, according to a recent survey issued by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. 

The survey, titled “Perceptions of refugees in Jordan - Wave (VI)”, was conducted in May and June 2023. 

The five previous waves of the survey were conducted from October 2020 to November 2022. It aims to gauge Jordanians’ perceptions of refugees in Jordan. 

The sixth wave reflects the views of 3,265 Jordanian women and men living in five governorates across the Kingdom, including Amman, Irbid, Zarqa, Mafraq and Karak.

Jordanians ‘very sympathetic’ towards refugees 

It showed that 67 per cent of respondents were “very sympathetic” towards refugees escaping conflict, which marks a 5 per cent increase since November 2022. 

Moreover, 29 per cent of respondents said that they were “somewhat sympathetic”, while unsympathetic responses stood at 4 per cent with a 1 per cent decrease from the last wave, according to the survey’s report. 

It stated that the majority of Jordanians, 81 per cent, expressed positive views towards refugees living in Jordan. Negative perceptions of refugees stood at 8 per cent, which marks a 2 per cent difference, compared to the previous survey. 

However, there were regional differences in Jordanians’ perception of refugees, the report noted. 

It revealed that negative views were held by 17 per cent and 14 per cent of respondents in Mafraq and Karak, respectively. These rates are higher than all other surveyed governorates. 

The highest rate of positive views (83 per cent) was recorded in Zarqa, followed by Amman (82 per cent), Irbid (79 per cent), Karak (74 per cent) and Mafraq (72 per cent). 

International support 

The report showed that 93 per cent of surveyed Jordanians said that the number of refugees hosted by Jordan is “very high”, and 89 per cent held the view that “Jordan has done more than its fair share in supporting refugees living in the country”. 

It also stated that 48 per cent of respondents believed that the international community still needed to do more to support the refugees living in Jordan. 

Syrians’ return 

Seventy per cent of Jordanians in this wave of the survey compared to 65 per cent in the previous wave agreed that Syrians will return to their home country, according to the report. 

However, it showed that 62 per cent of respondents said that the return must be the refugees’ decision, and 89 per cent said that there was a state of coexistence between Jordanians and refugees. 

The report also stated that 51 per cent of respondents agreed that the Kingdom’s borders should be kept open for people fleeing persecution “no matter where they come from”.