Jordan is the country that hosts the largest number of Palestinian refugees (PR). Most but not all of them hold Jordanian nationality.
According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), more than 2 million registered Palestinian refugees now live in Jordan. Most reside in cities and villages alongside Jordanians, while 370,000 live in camps, 10 of them official and three of them unofficial.
Around three quarters of the over 2 million Palestinian refugees in Jordan hold full Jordanian citizenship and therefore have a national identification number, which allows them access to the labour market and public health and education services. However, a significant minority, most of whom arrived in Jordan from the Gaza Strip, as opposed to the West Bank, do not possess Jordanian citizenship. A national census carried out by Jordan’s Department of Statistics in 2016 put their number at 634,182. They are excluded from rights and services enjoyed by citizens and are amongst the most destitute communities in the country.
