What do durable solutions mean and what are their implications for migrant workers and refugees in the Arab world? MEMO 4/4
In view of the fact that migrant workers and refugees face similar challenges (e.g., crossing borders, facing discrimination in the receiving/host country, experiencing exclusion and limited enjoyment of rights, and the threat of detention and or deportation), both the UN and the civil society have increasingly resorted to common approaches and solutions to enhance the protection of these different groups. Based on ARDD’s research and experience, and having consulted the Migrant Workers Committee1 the brief proposes six recommendations that could help guarantee a safe and dignified life for all concerned: 1) Invest in quality data gathering through targeted regional research, particularly on borders, to identify: (a) the main challenges refugees and migrant workers face across the region and (b) the main alternative to voluntary or involuntary migration, which could save lives. 2) Make sure that legal aid provides full information about solutions for both migrants and refugees, and that those migrants and refugees are not discriminated against on any ground. 3) Raise awareness about the circumstances that push people to move and align responses with international legal obligations. Forced migrants should always be granted asylum, as a basis for durable solutions: (1) voluntary repatriation under the supervision of pertinent agencies, to ensure refugees’ or migrants’ protection, (2) local inclusion with an emphasis on social cohesion; (3) resettlement to places where the refugee can reestablish him/herself. 4) Establish a task force for Arab countries to prioritize regional discussions on how to ensure that the Mediterranean Sea returns to being a place that saves lives, not causes death. For it, Arab countries (and not only those bordering the Mediterranean Sea) should engage with European countries on: a. integrated, humane, and coordinated management of borders, b. effective prevention and response to the smuggling of migrants and refugees, and trafficking. 5) Promote partnerships among government authorities, the private sector, banks and development organizations, civil society, donors, and the UN, to: a. promote social cohesion of migrant workers and their effective protection (by enabling communication in different languages, securing recourse mechanisms, etc.), b. support sustainable income-generating projects for migrants/refugees in host countries, c. create conditions for migrants and diasporas to contribute to sustainable development in receiving/host country, but also to access fast, safe, and convenient transfer of remittances, 6) Hold all stakeholders accountable, to help maintain the legal status of refugees/migrants during their life journey away from their home/country of origin. 1 This committee, including 30 representatives of various non-national (migrant worker and refugee) communities in Jordan, is set up and supported through the ARDD’s Haquna project
Ramon Airport Controversy Policy Brief
Apparently for economic reasons and to demonstrate goodwill vis-à-vis the Palestinians at the time of US President Biden’s visit to the region in July of this year, Israel recently announced that it would allow Palestinians from the occupied West Bank to travel abroad through Ramon Airport near Eilat. The first flight carrying 43 passengers left for Cyprus on 22 August 2022. So far, no further flights have taken place, although preparations are reportedly underway for regular flights for Palestinian passengers from Ramon Airport. The news of the Palestinian use of Ramon Airport has raised concerns in Jordan, with several politicians and commentators warning of economic implications for the Kingdom. Some have gone as far as calling for a ban on those Palestinians making use of the Ramon travel option – allegedly amounting to no normalization – to enter Jordan. The Palestinian leadership has tried to diffuse tensions with Jordan over the matter. To explore the issue in greater detail, ARDD convened a roundtable at its offices in Amman on 28 August 2022 attended by several prominent experts on Jordanian and Palestinian affairs (see list of participants in the annex). The aim of the meeting was to develop recommendations to guide public opinion and decision-makers about measures and tools to respond to the decision to operate Ramon Airport for Palestinian travelers. This note provides background information with respect to the issue (Section 2) and summarizes the main insights from the discussion (Section 3). The note ends with several policy recommendations (Section 4).
Reframing migrant workers and refugee policies: advocating for rights through the HAQUNA approach
This report builds on four discussion sessions with the Migrant Workers Committee (MWC) led by ARDD within the framework of the Advancing Haquna project. The policy memos combine the central contribution of MWC members together with evidence from sectorial studies and analyses of available literature conducted by ARDD. They offer specific assessment and policy strategies addressing: (1) Legal aid access for migrant workers and refugees; (2) Labor rights framework; (3) Access to basic services; (4) Durable solutions for migrant workers and refugees. The policy memos put forward a set of actionable recommendations, transversal and intersectional to all themes, for enhancing the protection of refugees and migrant workers, favoring the achievement of better working and life conditions and their inclusion in the host country’s social and economic environment. They all point out the need for direct engagement of migrant workers and refugee communities in advocating for their rights and protection. With the aim to keep developing the bottom-up approach that is at the core of the MWC and in cooperation with ARDD, new ways forward based on lessons learned through the implementation of the Haquna project were articulated emphasizing the broader, regional dimension of grassroots advocacy and mobilization for guaranteeing protection to vulnerable groups. Specifically, the MWC calls for continuous efforts aiming at: 1- Continuing providing pro-bono legal aid for the protection and empowerment of migrant workers and refugees. 2- Organizing legal awareness sessions as part of the Haquna project, reaching more members of the community. 3- Organizing specialized workshops with relevant stakeholders and actors such as UNHCR that can share valuable knowledge on legal social and economic avenues available to migrants and refugees to protect their rights and improve living conditions. 4- Awarding official certificates to members attending awareness sessions in order to strengthen their role within communities. 5- Establishing committees of migrant workers and refugees in the whole Arab region so as to strengthen the regional resilience of people on the move, building on the achievements of the Jordanian experience.
The Implementation of Women, Peace, and Security Resolutions in the Context of the UN Global Counterterrorism Strategy and CT/PVE Responses Talking Points by ARDDs Director Samar Muhareb
In 2006, the United Nations (UN) released its Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy (UN GCTS), which addresses the conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism, provides measures to build states’ capacities to prevent and combat terrorism and presents methods to ensure respect for human rights and the rule of law as the fundamental basis for the fight against terrorism (United Nations General Assembly Resolution 60/288, 2006). During the sixth biennial review of the strategy, which was undertaken in 2018, the strategy advocated for the increased inclusion of women and civil society organizations in policymaking and programming in this area. This commitment upholds the importance of Women, Peace, and Security (WPS), whose agenda is best demonstrated in the UN Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security of 2000, which “reaffirms the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace negotiations, peacebuilding, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and in post-conflict reconstruction and stresses the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security” (UN Women, 2000). ARDD stresses the critical role that women play in preventing violent extremism. Often, women are seen as either victim of extremist ideologies or as contributors to them. However, it should be noted that when women are active agents in extremist thinking, more often than not it is because they are victims too — of an environment that politically, socially, and economically marginalizes them. At ARDD, we have focused on strengthening the role in preventing violent extremism in Jordan, particularly, and in the region. There is increasing recognition among civil society actors that women’s participation in preventing violent extremism should not be part of counter-terrorism strategies but part of the civilian peace agenda. Women are already on the frontline of countering extremist violence in Jordan in their capacities as mothers, police officers, and more. While the WPS agenda and the UN GCTS are complementary in nature — the UN GCTS presents approaches to preventing violent extremism (PVE) as well as terrorism and the WPS agenda emphasizes the role that women have in this approach – the UN GCTS advocates for women’s participation in the military sector. This method falls under the “nation-building” approach, a top-down model that supplements a military or securitized counter-terrorism strategy (UN Women, 2015). ARDD, like other civil society organizations, has reservations about this approach, as it has been shown in Iraq and Afghanistan, for example, that these strategies do not effectively take local context into consideration and have not been successful. Specifically, it is ARDD’s experience that it is very difficult to engage civil society organizations in PVE work whose measures are delineated in the UN GCTS. Ironically, while there is no clear distinction between the PVE agenda and WPS, it has been easier for civil society organizations to engage in WPS work, as participation remains at the grassroots level and does not involve participation in peace building and political conflict management.
Coordination to Enhance Services for Vulnerable Groups Policy Brief 8
The brief explores the local communities’ understanding of the procedures enabling access to cash assistance provided by the government of Jordan during COVID-19 and makes recommendations that aim to improve access to aid programs during crises. It focuses on the benefits of an effective partnership between local CSOs and government entities and provides policy recommendations guided by insights from 11 local CSOs, members of the JONAF coalition, regarding issues faced by vulnerable individuals who apply for assistance to the Takaful program and the National Aid Fund. This brief comes as part of the action research within the framework of the project “Strengthening the Capacities of Women-led CSOs in Evidence-Based Advocacy and Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Agenda”, supported by UN Women with the generous funding of the governments of Canada, Finland, Norway, Spain, Cyprus, and the United Kingdom. ARDD would like to thank the civil society partners and individuals that supported the development of this study, which was carried out by the research team of the Al Nahda Thought Center.
Intersectionality between gender and vulnerability Policy Brief 10
The brief explores how gender and intersectionality were taken into account in the Takaful program that gave access to National Aid Fund during the pandemic. It builds on the local communities’ understanding of vulnerability and aims to improve access to available assistance. The brief focuses on developing an overview of coordinated strategies that CBOs can take to improve gender-sensitive responses to vulnerabilities facing women as a result of COVID-19. The brief provides policy recommendations guided by insights from 11 CSOs members of the JONAF coalition, interviewed by ARDD on existing vulnerability assessment tools. This brief comes as part of the action research within the framework of the project “Strengthening the Capacities of Women-led CSOs in Evidence-Based Advocacy and Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Agenda”, supported by UN Women with the generous funding of the governments of Canada, Finland, Norway, Spain, Cyprus, and the United Kingdom. ARDD would like to thank the civil society partners and individuals that supported the development of this study, which was carried out by the research team of the Al Nahda Thought Center.
Building a Women´s Local Network for Empowerment and Solidarity Policy Brief 7
This brief explores the local response to domestic violence through building local research capacity, with a focus on overcoming the barriers impending women to report cases of domestic violence. The brief offers policy recommendations guided by insights from various actors from the local community on their perceptions of domestic violence. To gain insight into the community perspectives, ARRD collaborated with 11 civil society organizations from the Jordan National NGO Forum (JONAF) Coalition and provided various training to prepare them to launch this research and build a common understanding of gender-based violence and how to address it. According to the local perspective, domestic violence is seen as a sensitive topic often shun upon from discussion as women are supposed to preserve the cohesion of their families. This secrecy often deters women from reporting their cases and rather pushes them to deal with them internally within their family borders. Women are often subject to barriers hindering their capabilities of reporting their cases, these barriers include social norms, fear of retaliation, family cohesion, lack of awareness and trust in relevant stakeholders, and poor economic backgrounds. The policy brief suggests the following main recommendations Build new forms of solidarity that ensure confidentiality and safety and where domestic violence can be discussed and its risks mitigated. Build a structure that supports women without stigmatization This brief comes as part of a series of Women Advocacy Issues policy briefs ARDD is producing within the framework of the project “Strengthening the Capacities of Women-led CSOs in Evidence-Based Advocacy and Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Agenda” supported by UN Women with the generous funding of the governments of Canada, Finland, Norway, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Cyprus. ARDD acknowledges the support of the women-led civil society partners involved in the project implementation and thanks to the representatives of the organizations for their meaningful contribution.
Economic empowerment and mitigating domestic violence risks Policy Brief 6
This brief explores the local response to domestic violence through building local research capacity, with a focus on mitigating domestic violence risks. The brief offers policy recommendations guided by insights from various actors from the local community on their perceptions of domestic violence. To gain insight into the community perspectives, ARRD collaborated with 11 civil society organizations from the Jordan National NGO Forum (JONAF) Coalition and provided various training to prepare them to launch this research and build a common understanding of gender-based violence and how to address it. The study shed a light on the lack of awareness concerning the topic of domestic violence within the local communities, where the perception of domestic violence is limited to its physical form. This lack of knowledge often leads individuals to be unaware or in denial when facing domestic violence often justifying other forms of domestic violence as lesser, indicating a need to raise awareness on the different forms of domestic violence. The study also identified the local perspective towards the various needs of domestic violence survivors focusing on rehabilitation and empowerment. The participant emphasized the importance of better understanding the needs of domestic violence survivors and means of addressing them. The brief suggested policy recommendations including Ensure a participatory approach to the identification of services offered to survivors that should be reviewed regularly Build economic empowerment in a vision of mitigating domestic violence, taking into account the local perspective. While addressing the need of raising awareness about domestic violence This brief comes as part of a series of Women Advocacy Issues policy briefs ARDD is producing within the framework of the project “Strengthening the Capacities of Women-led CSOs in Evidence-Based Advocacy and Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Agenda” supported by UN Women with the generous funding of the governments of Canada, Finland, Norway, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Cyprus. ARDD acknowledges the support of the women-led civil society partners involved in the project implementation and thanks to the representatives of the organizations for their meaningful contribution.
Enhancing Access to Services for Survivors of Domestic Violence: Building Trust in National and Local Services Providers Policy Brief 5
This brief explores the local response to domestic violence, with a focus on identifying the local perceptions towards the roles and mechanisms of the Family Protection Department and Local Civil Society actors. The brief provides policy recommendations guided by insights from various actors from the local community on their perceptions of domestic violence and the response provided by various actors. To gain insight into the community perspectives, ARRD collaborated with 11 civil society organizations from the Jordan National NGO Forum (JONAF) Coalition and provided various training to prepare them to launch this research and build a common understanding of gender-based violence and how to address it. The research-action showed that families lack information about the mechanisms and role of the Family Protection Department and other relevant stakeholders when it comes to domestic violence. The absence of trust is evident among respondents with concerns over confidentiality and misconceptions limiting understanding of processes mixed with stereotypes around GBV survivors by the participants. Additionally, a lack of knowledge and awareness of the services provided by the family protection department and other stakeholders often deters women from reporting their cases, rather than dealing with their cases internally with their families. The brief presents several recommendations including: Increasing local knowledge about services providers Build local capacity to raise awareness about domestic violence, access to services beyond stereotypes Clarifying and building knowledge and awareness about safety procedures. This brief comes as part of a series of Women Advocacy Issues policy briefs ARDD is producing within the framework of the project “Strengthening the Capacities of Women-led CSOs in Evidence-Based Advocacy and Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Agenda” supported by UN Women with the generous funding of the governments of Canada, Finland, Norway, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Cyprus. ARDD acknowledges the support of the women-led civil society partners involved in the project implementation and thanks to the representatives of the organizations for their meaningful contribution.
Strengthening Access to Healthcare Services and Legal Protection among low-income Jordanians and Refugees An end to the retention of personal identification documents by Jordanian hospitals
ARDD and the Justice Forum advocate work to prevent the retention of personal identification documents by hospitals in Jordan and MOH responds Local civil society organizations, better capable of analyzing and identifying the needs of their communities, spearhead evidence-based advocacy efforts that lead to concrete results on the ground. Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD) engaged in such advocacy effort, scoring a measure of success, but vowing to obtain more. Through the Forum for Supporting the Justice Sector – a joint ARDD-Durrat Al-Manal for Development and Training initiative – and through its Public Health Policy Lab sessions, which enjoy the participation of experts in the justice and health sectors, and which aimed at integrating the right to health into the justice system, ARDD contributed to improving one aspect of the Jordanian health sector. The sector has witnessed a steep decline due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to an increase in cases of medical accountability lacking health services, and adoption of practices that, due to ARDD’s hard work and determination were proved illegal. More specifically, the seizure of patients’ personal documents by way of ensuring payment for their treatment. During the Public Health Policy Lab session, ARDD was the first to raise the issue of hospitals withholding patients’ personal documents as a guarantee that they would settle their hospital fees, one of the major problems that have emerged recently, and which the Ministry of Health felt it needed to address. Minister of Health Dr. Firas Al-Hawari issued instructions with the heads of health directorates and hospitals, asking them to prevent the seizure of patients’ identification documents, which is illegal, according to Article 10 of the Civil Status Law. Having the required expertise, ARDD was able to spearhead the advocacy efforts and legal discussion within the Justice Forum, ARDD’s legal aid department, about the issue. It presented a legal analysis that had dealt with 565 cases in which identification documents had been withheld by Jordanian hospitals in the period 2020- 2021. The number of such cases varied across the various Jordanian governorates. The central governorates witnessed 216 cases, the northern governorates 187 cases, the southern governorates 111 cases, and the Syrian refugee camps (Azraq and Zaatari) 51 cases. This illegal practice poses a great problem, especially for refugees. As such, the legal aid department issued a recommendation, to be circulated by the directorates of health in Jordan, asking for the practice to stop and for hospitals to resort, instead, to legal means and relevant enforcement entities, in addition to establishing a mechanism that enables patients to pay their dues in installments. ARDD shared a letter with Minister Al-Hawari, informing him of the severity of the issue, in particular for the refugees who already suffer tremendously, are under more serious monitoring and who, without identification documents run the risk of jail. In response to the letter, Dr. Al-Hawari sent a letter to the heads of health directorates and hospitals, instructing them to ask their cadres to desist from withholding personal identification documents of both Jordanian and non-Jordanian patients who fail to pay the costs of their treatment at the Ministry of Health’s hospitals and, instead, resort to legal action. Dr. Al-Hawari has instructed that, instead of seizing patients’ personal documents, the accountant or administrative employees request that the patients or their sponsor sign a pledge that they will pay the amount due upon their discharge from the hospital. The issue has not been fully addressed yet. Fulfilling its duty to serve the local community and to strive to ensure respect for the rule of law, ARDD, through the Justice Forum’s Public Health Policy Lab, will follow up on the adherence of health directorates and hospitals to the Ministry of Health instructions.