As of 31 December 2019, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan hosted 747,116 persons of concern to UNHCR, with Syrian refugees remaining the largest refugee group. In 2019, 22,327 individuals were registered (the majority as a result of births) to reach a total of 654,692 Syrian refugees, compared to 671,650 at the end of 2018. There was a decrease of 5,206 Syrian refugees registering in 2019 when compared to the same period in 2018, explained by a reduction in the number of new arrivals requesting registration, as well as the overall decrease of Syrian refugees in Jordan due to return and resettlement. Many (39.9%), Syrian refugees in Jordan originate from the southern Governorate of Dara’a. Other areas of origin are the Governorates of Homs (16.2%), Rural Damascus (11.3%) and Aleppo (11.3%). UNHCR recorded some 30,000 spontaneous returns to Syria in 2019. Among 5,498 resettlement departures, 4,843 were refugees from Syria. In Jordan, 81.2 per cent of Syrian refugees reside in urban areas, with Amman and Irbid hosting the largest number (192,985 or 29.5% and 134,649 or 20.6% of people respectively), while 18.8 per cent reside in camps. Camp populations remained stable; Zaatari, the largest camp, housed 76,372 refugees (11.7 % of the total refugee population), followed by Azraq camp, hosting 40,396 (6.2%) and the Emirati Jordanian camp (EJC), hosting 6,492 (1%). Fifty per cent of Syrian refugees are female, while 50.6 per cent of the total population are under 18 years old. No substantial difference was observed in the demographics of urban versus camp settings. Compared to 2018, a slight decrease was observed when it came to the specific needs of the Syrian refugee population, with a decrease seen in both urban and camp populations.
Twenty per cent of the urban refugee population have registered specific needs, with higher figures seen in the camps: 25.7 per cent in Azraq, 21.1 per cent in the EJC, and 19.8 per cent in Zaatari camp. Overall, the most widely reported specific need among Syrian refugees related to a serious medical condition (8.9%), followed by specific legal and physical protection needs (5%) and children at risk (4.9%). A major shift in Government policy regarding registration took place in 2019, with the issuance of Resolution Number 2713A of 23 January 2019 for persons entering Jordan for medical, work, tourism, or study purposes, who are precluded from lodging asylum claims; pursuant to this the authorities requested UNHCR to suspend registration of these categories.
A total of 1,681 refugees of nationalities other than Syrian registered with UNHCR in 2019 (440 Iraqis, 614 Yemenis, 428 Sudanese, 14 Somalis, and 185 persons of concern of other nationalities). This brought the total registered population of nationalities other than Syrian to 90,556 (67,233 Iraqis, 14,791 Yemenis, 6,096 Sudanese, 742 Somalis and 1,694 individuals of other nationalities). The new registrations include newborns and those registered prior to 23 January 2019. The entire non-Syrian population lives in urban areas, mostly in Amman. Around 22.4 per cent of the Iraqi population (15,042), 14.7 per cent of the Yemeni population (2,176), 31.3 per cent of the Somali population (233), 24.5 per cent of the Sudanese population (1,491), and 18.3 per cent of other nationalities (313) have been identified as having at least one and, in some cases, multiple special needs. The most common special needs include serious medical conditions for refugees from Iraq, Yemen, and Sudan standing at 14.2 per cent, 9.5 per cent, and 17.1 per cent respectively. Women at risk is the most prevalent special need for Somalis and the small numbers of other nationalities.