Who we are

History 

In 1990, IOM established its presence and conducted its first operation in Jordan with the evacuation of 165,000 Third Country Nationals who fled the first Iraqi crisis. In 1999, Jordan became a Member State of the organization. IOM assists government counterparts in developing national instruments to protect victims of trafficking and adapt the staff and facilities to a Humanitarian Border Management situation. In addition, and as part of the United Nations Humanitarian Team (UNHCT) response to the Syrian Crisis, IOM has been facilitating emergency evacuation assistance to Syrian refugees from borders to camps. The process includes pre-registration, transportation, emergency vaccination and fit-to-travel assessments for refugees in Rabaa al-Sarhan, as well as tuberculosis screening and awareness raising for Syrians and host communities inside and outside the camps. IOM is in charge of repatriation assistance to Third Country Nationals (TCNs) fleeing from Syria into Jordan. Learn more about IOM in Jordan.  

Context 

Historically, Jordan has been both a country of origin and a destination for migrant workers. From the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, hundreds of thousands of well-educated and highly skilled Jordanians mainly migrated to the Gulf countries for employment. During the same period, Jordan introduced policies favoring immigration, with the country becoming a labour recipient of mainly semi-skilled workers from Egypt, Syria and Asian countries to meet the needs of its agrarian, semi-industrial and service-oriented economy. Today, there is notable participation of migrant workers in the agriculture, construction, industrial, garment/textile and domestic work sectors in Jordan. 

The Jordanian labour force increasingly emigrated out of Jordan to the Arab Gulf States starting from the 1950s. Today Jordanians reside outside the country in the largest numbers in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the United States of America. They generally migrate to work in highly-skilled sectors or for educational purposes, reportedly contributing to approximately 10% of Jordan’s Gross Domestic Profit (GDP) through remittances (World Bank, 2023).   

Due to its strategic location at the crossroads of two major areas of instability and protracted conflict in the Middle East, the country continued to be involved in major humanitarian emergencies and had to cope with massive influxes of refugees and migrant workers. Jordan has hosted migrants and refugees from numerous neighbors, including Lebanon during the 1975–1990 civil war; and Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War, the 2003 Second Gulf War and after the rise in ISIS attacks in 2014. Today, Jordan still hosts 49,839 Iraqi refugees (UNHCR, 2024). After the onset of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Jordan experienced a significant surge in refugee numbers, putting pressure on government authorities, economic and social infrastructures and local communities, requiring the attention of the international community. As of February 2024, a total of 625,025 Syrian refugees were registered by UNHCR in Jordan. 

 
In recent years Jordan’s migrant and refugee needs have surged while humanitarian aid for them has dwindled due to the prolonged Syrian refugee crisis and ongoing regional/global conflicts, diverting international focus. In addition, Jordan will continue to grapple with escalating environmental challenges exacerbated by climate change, such as water scarcity and desertification that are expected to profoundly affect livelihoods and migration patterns.  

IOM Global

Established in 1951, IOM is the leading intergovernmental organization in the field of migration and works closely with governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental partners.

With 175 member states, a further 8 states holding observer status and offices in over 100 countries, IOM is dedicated to promoting humane and orderly migration for the benefit of all. It does so by providing services and advice to governments and migrants.

IOM works to help ensure the orderly and humane management of migration to promote international cooperation on migration issues, to assist in the search for practical solutions to migration problems and to provide humanitarian assistance to migrants in need, including refugees and internally displaced people.

The IOM Constitution recognizes the link between migration and economic, social and cultural development, as well as to the right of freedom of movement.

IOM works in the four broad areas of migration management:

• Migration and development

• Facilitating migration

• Regulating migration

• Forced migration.

IOM activities that cut across these areas include the promotion of international migration law, policy debate and guidance, protection of migrants' rights, migration health and the gender dimension of migration.