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II. Case Study: Zaatari Syrian refugee camp………………………………………………………....8
Refugees will furthermore receive legal status in Jordan and a refugee identification card which is valid for one year. They have the right to practice their religion, are entitled to legal assistance and free access to courts of law and are exempt from departure fees and overstay fines (UNHCR,1998) .
Since the onset of the refugee crisis, the Jordanian government has estimated that they spent $8.6 billion in direct costs for hosting Syrian refugees, which is roughly 16 percent of their annual budget. In order to fund the aid for refugees, the government and UNHCR have asked for $7.68 billion in aid over three years in the Regional refugee and Resilience Plan 2017-2018 (UNHCR, 2017). However, as of October 2017, donations have only reached 42 percent of that amount. A combination of this funding deficit, a shortage of jobs and the related competition over jobs between refugees and the host community, has led to tensions between Syrian refugees and local Jordanians (Guay, 2015). In order to resolve these tensions, the Jordanian government formed the Jordan Compact in 2016 granting Syrians access to work permits and educational opportunities (IRC, 2017).
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The Jordan Compact helped raise funds and enhanced self sustainability of refugees by giving them opportunities and legal rights. This policy - deemed “successful” and "a sustainable refugee response" by the international community - shall be examined in more detail.
Another contributing framework that we will look into is the Global Compact on Refugees (UN, 2018): ‘’It provides a blueprint for governments, international organizations, and other stakeholders to ensure that host communities get the support they need and that refugees can lead productive lives.’’ It strives to relieve tensions between the host community and refugees by providing host communities with support and enhancing refugees self-reliance with a focus on international cooperation between the stakeholders.
And last, we will examine the UNHCR’s Policy on Alternatives to Camps (2014) in order to identify possibilities for empowerment of women. It seeks to find durable solutions for the protection of displaced people and adheres to the rights of refugees under international law. Camps, according to UNHCR, should only be a temporary solution:
‘’The possible alternatives are diverse and affected by factors such as culture, legislation and national policies. Refugees might live on land or housing which they rent, own or occupy informally, or they may have private hosting arrangements. Such alternatives typically allow refugees to exercise their rights and freedoms, make meaningful choices about issues affecting their lives, contribute to their community and live with greater dignity and independence.’’ (UNHCR, 2020)
The policy is directed at staff members involved in the planning, design and delivery of programmes for protection of refugees and seeks partnership with the host government, community and other stakeholders (UNHCR, 2014).
Research Methodology
Overview
The research will be based on fieldwork that will be carried out in the Zaatari camp. In order to assess the impact of a refugee camp on women empowerment, the research will utilize primary and secondary data with a mixed-method approach of both quantitative and qualitative elements. Specifically, the first part of the paper about the Zaatari Syrian refugee camp case study will be based on using comparative and cross-sectional study relying on primary data that involves semi-structured interviews, surveys, and focus group discussions (FGDs). These shall be conducted with 3 groups that include refugee women and their possible husbands who have been in the camp for 1 to 9 years and Jordan women from nearby city Al Mafraq which has a similar population to our site. Then, the second part of the paper which covers Jordan's policy and global framework on refugees will mostly rely on secondary data including grey literature, legal framework, and policy surrounding refugees.
Population of interest
Survey and semi-structured interviews will be conducted with Syrian refugee women living in Zaatari camp for more than 5 years and Jordan women living in the city Al Mafraq. The length of residence in the camp is controlled in order to see the stability of their status. Moreover, if the women have a husband or partner present at the Zaatari camp, they shall be included in the interviews as well, because it is important to take their perspective into account on women’s empowerment since most of them are from countries where traditional gender roles are pervasive. Respondents will be chosen from a subset of this population within a specific age; from 13 to 65 since 13 is the legal age a woman can get married in Syria, marriage; single/ widowed/ married/ married with child and working status. The research will use convenience sampling on a focused group by selecting eight to ten Syrian refugee women who are working or have working experience.
Data collection
Prior to data collection, two considerations are to be expected. The first one is that fieldwork teams will need training in which the background and purpose of the study will be discussed, as well as the methodology and data collection tools. The training also will cover field protocols, code of conduct, protection principles, logistics, data entry guidelines as well as ethical standards (Mearns, 2010). The second consideration is the access to the site. Since Zaatari camp is under the joint administration of the Syrian Refugee Affairs Directorate and UNHCR, the author will not only have to get access permits but also have prior meetings with organizations and individuals in charge such as SRAD, UNHCR, refugee council of Zaatari camp, women council and information managers as well. The survey will be conducted face-to-face two times in total in which the latter one could work as a complementary survey on the first one when there is a need for more information or data is missing or insufficient. Subjects will be selected randomly involving each hundred refugee women and Jordan women of different status with the help of Zaatari camp manager. Data will be collected using KOBO tools with both Arabic and English accompanying Arabic speaking translators in case respondents are illiterate. The survey content will
include twenty to thirty multiple-choice questions asking information on socioeconomic status such as education, income, occupation as well as basic information. The survey is estimated to take about 1520 minutes in order for respondents not to be overwhelmed and after the data collection, each answer will be monitored by the field manager every day. Examples of survey questions are as follows; what is your highest degree or level of education you completed? When did you study last? Do you work? What kind of work do you do? How much did/do you earn? How much financial support do you get? Semistructured interviews will be conducted face-to-face total of two times with Syrian refugees living in Zaatari camp and Jordan individuals living in the city Al Mafraq (see below for the composition of respondents) and it will be recorded digitally unless interviewees ask for a non-recording session where the note will be taken. Selection and access to the respondents will get help from the organizations, institutions, and individuals stated in the paragraph above.
Each Syrian refugee in Zaatari camp and Al Mafraq citizen
age single widowed married Married with children
Husbands of the married
15-25 1 1
25-35 1 1 1
1 1
1
35-45 1 1
Over 45 1 1 1
1 1
1
Sub total 4 4 4 4 8
Total Zaatari camp 24 persons + Al Mafraq citizen 24 persons = 48 persons
Table 2 Composition of semi-structured interviewees
Focused group discussion will be conducted face-to-face and videotaped, with permission, on the second site visit. A number of eight to ten individuals of the focus group will be selected using convenience sampling who are Syrian refugees living in the camp and working at the moment or have working experience either in Syria or in the camp whether with a working permit or not. The estimated time of discussion is 2-3 hours with the supervision of the women's council. Secondary data will be collected from grey literature such as annual reports, reports from INGOs, Jordan ministry of justice website, UNHCR global framework on refugees; The Global Compact on Refugees (GCR), Country Refugee Response Plan (CRRP) and further literature.
Data processing and analysis
Primary data collected on the field will go through data review and translated into English regularly with a trained translator. Quantitative data will be analyzed using Excel and STATA while qualitative data will be analyzed using ATLAS.ti or Nvivo (depending on the access and familiarity of the tool). Method of qualitative data analysis will be based on the grounded theory described by Glaser and Strauss (1967).
Challenges and limitations
⧫ Interviewees may not represent the population in refugee camps and Jordan because of the limitation of the number of interview conducted.
⧫ Though city Al Mafraq was chosen as a comparative group, because of the proximity of the city to the camp(10km), Al Mafraq can be seen as a refugee-hosting city meaning it has many refugees from Syria and it may not be representing the city in Jordan.
⧫ Zaatari camp grew exponentially fast and the situation is still fluctuating regarding the Syrian border circumstances which means that the time period this research takes place will be one of the variables. For example, the result of the data collected on pandemic might be pointing in a different direction compared to the one collected now.
⧫ Although data will be collected carefully respecting anonymity under ethical manners since many refugee women are from developing countries where the position of women is weak, answers might have liability issues and researchers will take that into account.