Continuing this war theme, Syrian refugees came to Jordan after 2011 because of the Syrian Civil War. They are the biggest group of refugees in Jordan, with about 1.3 million Syrians in Jordan. The Jordanian government has helped both refugee groups in different ways. A lot of nonprofits have also helped.
Jordanians have different opinions on refugees. Some people say that refugees are their brothers because there are family connections between many Jordanians and Syrians. The borders between Syria and Jordan are not very old, and some families are split between both countries. Other people think refugees are bad because they take work away from Jordanians. With so many people in Jordan, it can be hard to find jobs. And a third group says they are Palestinian refugees. They want to return to the towns in Israel/Palestine where their parents or grandparents grew up. There are also Somali and Sudamese refugees, but these groups are smaller.
So as you can see, refugees in Jordan create a difficult issue! The Palestinians who came in the 1940s and 1960s are refugees. But the Iraqis and the Syrians are also refugees. It is hard to find a balance between which people to help the most, and this makes politics in Jordan hard. But one thing is clear: refugees are a big part of Jordan, and it is hard to think of what Jordan would look like without them.
