Document #1357113
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
The following interview was held in Amman,
Jordan, on 27 May 1995 with a human rights lawyer who defends
nationality cases for Palestinians in Jordan. The interview focused
on the issue of Palestinian and Jordanian nationality and Jordanian
passports for Palestinians.
The lawyer stated that it is important to
understand some historical facts. Palestine has two separate
territories, Gaza and the West Bank. Before 1967 the Gaza Strip was
linked with Egypt and the West Bank with Jordan. According to this
partition, all residents of the West Bank were considered Jordanian
nationals. After 1967 the Jordanian authorities continued to
provide financial assistance to the West Bank civil administration,
while the Israeli military administration ruled by military
decrees. However, these military decrees also regulated the civil
administration since the Israeli's were controlling the territory
through occupation. In fact, the Israeli administration controlled
the entire administration of the West Bank. Therefore, there has
been few connections between legal development in Jordan and the
rule of law in the West Bank under Israeli occupation.
In 1988, King Hussein decided to sever the
ties between Jordan and the West Bank. Before 1988 all West Bank
Palestinians held 5-year Jordanian passports and were considered
Jordanian citizens. After 1988, all West Bank Palestinians became
stateless.
According to the 1988 decision, all
Palestinians who were living in the West Bank before 1 August 1988
were Palestinian nationals. The declaration also stated that all
the leaders of the PLO are not Jordanians but Palestinians. In
practice, however, the Jordanian authorities use this declaration
to strip some Jordanians of Palestinian origin of their Jordanian
citizenship. Several of these cases involve Palestinians who were
never members of the PLO and never lived in the West Bank. The
means by which Jordanian citizenship would be revoked is by
replacing the 5 year passport by a two-year Jordanian passport
during the renewal procedures.
The lawyer has had cases where holders of
2-year Jordanian passports were "accompanied" to the border by
Jordanian police and forced to leave Jordan. The holder of a 2-year
passport cannot obtain a driver's licence, own an apartment or buy
land without special permission from the Prime Minister, send
his/her children to school without special permission from the
Ministry of Education, obtain food coupons, vote, etc. If the
holder of a 2-year passport wants to establish a business he/she
must pay at least 100,000 Jordanian Dinars (1 Jordanian Dinar =
CDN$ 2) as a share holder. This amount of money must not represent
more than 50 per cent of the business' total financing. It is also
more difficult for the holder of a 2-year Jordanian passport to be
granted a foreign visa from foreign embassies in Jordan.
Palestinians living in Jordan before 1988
who were holding 5-year passports were supposed to become Jordanian
nationals, however some of them did not. No one in the Ministry of
the Interior has provided an explanation for the refusals. This is
due to the importance of the discretionary power of the Jordanian
authorities.
Palestinians coming from the Gulf also face
problems. For example, a Palestinian who went to the Gulf before
1988 with a 5-year Jordanian passport, which was renewed regularly
at a local Jordanian Embassy, could come back to Jordan after 1988
and receive a 2-year Jordanian passport because he/she was not a
resident of Jordan before 1988.
A West Bank Palestinian who wants to go to
Jordan would have to request an exit permit from the Israeli
administration. If the request is accepted, the Palestinian
receives a green exit permit from the Israeli military
administration. The Israeli green exit permit provides the right to
leave the West Bank through the King Hussein Bridge between the
West Bank and Jordan. The Palestinian would have to leave his/her
Teudat Zehut (Israeli identity card) with the Israeli military
authority in the West Bank. Once in Jordan, the Palestinian has to
show the Israeli green exit permit to the Jordanian border control.
It is not possible to enter Jordan without the Israeli green exit
permit. The Jordanians would provide either a Jordanian yellow
residence permit, or a Jordanian green residence permit. These two
cards only provide the right of residence in Jordan. The yellow
permits lasts 2 months and the holder needs special permission to
renew it. The Jordanian green residence permit contains the dates
of entry and exit from Jordan to the West Bank. They can be renewed
only when the space entry on the card for the entry and exit dates
is full. When West Bank Palestinians want to return to the West
Bank from Jordan they have to present the Israeli green exit permit
to the Israeli military authorities. Upon reception of the green
exit permit, the Israeli military authorities return the Teudat
Zehut to the West Bank Palestinian.
According to the lawyer, Palestinians who
hold Jordanian nationality could have it revoked by the Ministry of
Interior and the Secret Service at any time. This is, in the
lawyer's opinion, a means by which the Jordanian authorities exert
control on the political activities of the Palestinians in Jordan.
There is no right to appeal a citizenship revocation. When the
lawyer presents a revocation case to the court there is no
discussion of the issues. The court simply declares that it is a
State Order and it does not fall under the court's mandate. This is
an indirect way to negate the right of appeal.
The following information was provided
during a telephone interview on 28 November 1995 with the same
human rights lawyer who defends nationality cases for Palestinians
in Jordan.
In principle, Palestinians born of parents
living in Jordan (excluding the West Bank) would have full
Jordanian citizenship. According to 1988 regulations, the Jordanian
authorities and the Security Services benefit from important
discretionary powers from the 1988 King's Declaration to revoke a
person's citizenship and to decide who is a Jordanian and who is
not. The lawyer stated that appealing the government's decisions on
the issue of nationality is practically impossible since the
Jordanian courts do not accept cases of citizenship revocation. The
responsibility for revoking a citizen's nationality falls under the
mandate of the Ministry of the Interior. The Ministry usually makes
revocation decisions based on the political activities of the
person.
According to the lawyer, Palestinian
individuals register with UNWRA only if they are granted refugee
status in Jordan. Many Palestinians have both UNWRA documents and
Jordanian citizenship.
There are two circumstances under which
Palestinian holders of 5-year Jordanian passports might not have
their rights recognized as Jordanian citizens: 1) if the person
holds an Israeli identity document either from the Gaza Strip or
the West Bank, or an Egyptian document from the Gaza Strip; 2) if
the person is in the leadership of the Palestine Liberation
Organization (PLO). This explains why a person with a 5-year
Jordanian passport does not always have the rights of a national of
Jordan. Whether the person was born before 1988 does not affect the
two circumstances cited above.
For an example of the Jordanian court's
handling of Jordanian passport cases, please consult The
Palestine Yearbook of International Law (1990-1991, 68-71). For
a copy of the 1988 King's Declaration on the severance of
administrative ties with the West Bank and some legal comments on
this announcement, please consult The Palestine Yearbook of
International Law (1987-1988, 297-300). For additional
information on the issue of nationality and 2-year passport in
Jordan (pp. 31-37), please refer to the attached article from the
Arab Studies Quarterly (1995), and the BBC Summary of World
Broadcasts (24 Oct. 1995).
This Response was prepared after
researching publicly accessible information currently available to
the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does
not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular
claim to refugee status or asylum.
References
Human rights lawyer, Amman, Jordan. 27
May 1995. Interview in Amman.
_____. 28 November 1995. Telephone interview.
Attachments
Arab Studies Quarterly Winter-Spring
1995. Uri Davis. "Jinsiyya Versus Muwatana: The Question of
Citizenship and the State in the Middle East: The Cases of Israel,
Jordan and Palestine." Vol. 17, No. 1-2, pp. 19-50.
Hashimite Kingdom of Jordan Radio,
Amman. 22 October 1995. Reproduced by the BBC Summary of World
Broadcasts. 24 October 1995. "Minister: Extension of West Bankers'
Passport Does not Make Them Jordanian." (NEXIS)
The Palestine Yearbook of
International Law. 1990-1991. "The Legal Status of Palestinian
in the West Bank." Vol. 6, pp. 68-71.
_____ 1987-1988. "H.M. King Hussein's
Statement on the Severance of Jordan's Relationship with the West
Bank." Vol. 4, pp. 297-300.