Ali is one of several Syrian refugees in Jordan who were forcibly repatriated to war-torn areas and had to join armed groups to survive, according to the Mixed Migration Platform (MMP), an NGO that provides migration-related information.
A refugee was travelling to a Dead Sea resort for the weekend but found himself fighting in southern Syria in the very war he had fled. The refugee, Ali, said he ended up in the back of a police van after he was apprehended during his trip to the Dead Sea, heading for deportation to his war-torn country. He had been living at the al Zaatari refugee camp in northern Jordan for years but wanted to look for a job, he said. Less than 24 hours later, he told ANSA over the phone that he was evicted facing an uncertain future in the conflict-ridden town of Deraa, south Syria. Upon arriving in Syria, the 18-year-old said he was picked up by militants running the border areas, which are in contact with Jordanian authorities.
Ali was drafted by a local militia. His hometown in Homs has been overrun by Shiite militias, he told ANSA. ''I had no choice but to join the rebels as I cannot return to Homs and my family needs support,'' he said. Ali said he was one of dozens of Syrians and Palestinians from Syria deported by Jordanian authorities.
Many Syrian refugees forcibly repatriated, including minors - Mixed Migration Platform
Many Syrian refugees in Jordan were forcibly repatriated back to war-torn areas and had to join armed groups to survive, according to the Mixed Migration Platform (MMP), a Jordan-based website working with funding from Switzerland, Britain, Denmark and other European countries to raise the awareness of institutions and the public opinion on the issue of immigration.
According to information obtained by MMP and ANSAmed, confirmed by international and local humanitarian organizations, many minors are among Syrians who were forcibly repatriated in southern Syria. They were separated from their parents without their consent. Their families have reported them missing. The phenomenon has already been denounced in 2014 by international rights group Human Rights Watch. Jordan, which according to the UN hosts some 660,000 refugees, is taking part in Russian-sponsored negotiations in Astana, Kazakhstan, for the creation of de-escalation zones in western Syria. Jordanian authorities have a direct influence on anti-government local armed groups in one of these areas in the south bordering with Jordan. Repatriated Syrians often end up in the hands of these armed militias that operate in southern Syria, according to information obtained by ANSAmed in Amman. A recent report published by the Mixed Migration Platform (MMP) highlighted cases of deportation inside Jordan or to Syria, including unaccompanied children.
''Accounts of undocumented minors facing 'forcible separation' by relocation back to camps and deportation (sometimes without their parents' knowledge) while their families continue to reside in host communities are emerging in the hundreds'', said a report published by the Mixed Migration Website. Minors are almost never able to reunite with their family when the parents residing in host communities are undocumented themselves, according to the report. Jordan has been struggling with the inflow of refugees, who have placed a massive burden on its basic infrastructure. It has absorbed more than 1.5 million Syrian refugees since the start of the crisis in 2011.
Working outside camps, moving without permits cited as reasons
Reasons for deportation include working outside refugee camps without valid permits or moving outside the camps without proper documentation. Refugees apprehended in main cities are either sent back to refugee camps or to the border. Meanwhile, UNHCR said they ''do not support'' deportation policies, nor provide assistance to the process. ''UNHCR does not facilitate nor support the return of refugees to Syria as the situation there is extremely dire and unsafe'', said Mohammed Hawari and external relations officer for the organization in Jordan. ''UNHCR advocates on behalf of refugees and asylum-seekers to prevent the deportation of those at risk of forced return'', he told ANSA.
Human rights groups in Jordan said that authorities have been deporting refugees on a regular basis, sometimes without legal justification. Jordanian authorities ''periodically repatriate (Syrian) refugees, sometimes also without legal reasons'', said Abdel Kareem Shreideh, president of the Jordanian division of the Arab Organization for Human Rights. ''The measures are against international conventions to prevent torture, which Jordan has signed'', he told ANSA in a phone interview. Authorities in Amman hope that a recently brokered ceasefire between rebels and the Syrian regime could pave the way for setting up safe zones near the border to allow for the return of refugees. Jordanian officials were not available for comment.
Contacted by ANSAmed, the spokespersons of the Jordanian interior ministry and government institutions did not comment the report. Pro-government media say the measures are aimed at ''protecting national security''. According to the sources, the measures are justified by the fact that the refugees are leaving camps ''without valid permits''. The picture shows a 13 year old from Daraa, in Syria, flying a kite in Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan. (credit Oxfam, archive)