Since Jordan was founded, refugees have been a part of this country. Jordan became independent in the 1940s after the British left. As a result of war and political situations, refugees make up one of the biggest groups in Jordan! I want to tell you here about some of the reasons for this and what the people, here, think about it.
The first big groups of refugees to come to Jordan were Palestinian refugees. They came in 1948 and 1967 because of war in Israel/Palestine. Today, about 70% of Jordanians are Palestinian in origin. This makes the Palestinians one of the biggest groups in Jordan. For this reason, Palestinian identity is very important in Jordan. Another large group in Jordan is the Bedouin, who live in different places around the country. There are cultural differences between these people that are still important in Jordan.
Today, the biggest refugee groups are Iraqi refugees and Syrian refugees. Iraqi refugees came to Jordan in the 1990s after the Gulf War. During this war, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein tried to take over the country of Kuwait, and a lot of Iraqis left out of fear. More Iraqi refugees came to Jordan after the start of the Iraq War in 2003.
