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International rights group Human Rights Watch on Thursday accused Jordan of forcibly deporting and refusing entry to Palestinian refugees fleeing Syria, and called it a defiance of Jordan’s international obligations.
The New York-based group released its report in Amman, and said that Jordan has officially banned the entry of Palestinian refugees since January 2013 and since mid-2012 has forcibly deported over 100 refugees, including children and women, who had managed to get into the country.
In the report, the HRW said Jordan’s turning way of Palestinian refugees contrasts their treatment of Syrian refugees – over 600,000 Syrians have been taken in by Jordan since the Syrian conflict began in March 2011.
“Palestinian refugees face the same violence, killing and destruction that cause Syrian nationals themselves to want to flee to different countries”, Adam Coogle, HRW’s Middle East researcher said at a news conference in Amman.
The report, titled “Not Welcome: Jordan’s Treatment of Palestinians Escaping Syria”, is based on interviews the rights group has conducted with over 30 people affected by Jordan’s non-admission policy, Adam Coogle said.
The report said that most countries neighboring Syria had also put entry restrictions on Palestinian refugee fleeing Syria, “leaving thousands stuck and facing great dangers”.
“No refugees fleeing the violence in Syria -– Syrians and Palestinians alike –- should be denied entry and forced back against their will”, HRW said, while urging Jordan to void the ban.
The rights group also urged Jordan to end the deportations, saying that the nation’s authorities often separated Palestinian men from their families before deporting them, and “in some cases leaving the families without their primary source of income”.
“The deportations violate Jordan’s international obligation of non-refoulement, the prohibition in international law on returning refugees and asylum seekers to places where their lives or freedom would be threatened, or the return of anyone to the risk of torture”, the HRW said.