wire en Jordanie, un pied en Irak

Voila mon texte pour le livre décrit dans une note précédente... mon anglais est lourd, j'aurais mieux fait en arabe! mais l'éditrice ne parle pas l'arabe alors que voulez vous...

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The Paris Circle is the busy centre point of Jebel Webdeh, gathering few French shops or centres that have been established nearby: the French café, the French cultural centre, and the headquarters of a French NGO. One wouldn’t be surprised of seeing gatherings of French expatriates around the Circle during hot summer evenings.

But the Paris Circle seems to attract another community: the Iraqis established in Jordan. As soon as the weather enables outdoor gatherings, Iraqi families living in Jebel Webdeh like to meet their compatriots around the typically Parisian fountain of the Circle. Women and children sit around the benches of the square, while male teenagers listen to music in their cars on one side of the circle. Men are standing among themselves at another side of the circle. The meeting point of the 3 groups seems to be the trolley of the seller of corn.

Few Iraqis were present in Jordan before 2003, escaping the totalitarian Regime of Saddam Hussein. Illegally staying in the country for most of them, the Jordanian policy implied to close its eyes in front of these Iraqi newcomers, not in favour of chasing them back to their homeland but respecting the economic ties the Hashemite Kingdom had bound with Iraq.

2003 saw a flood of the richest Iraqi families entering Jordan, escaping the military operations announcing the war in Iraq. An excellent financial opportunity for Jordan which welcomed these powerful families and their economic capacities: residency permits were offered to Iraqis in return of a deposit of 100.000USD$ in a bank account. Unfortunately, the Iraqis whom did not own such enormous amount of money were refused residency. Holding 3 months visas, they had the choice of leaving and entering Jordan again on a regular basis, or to pay the daily fine of 1.5 Jordanian Dinars for being in the country without visa.   

After 2003, as the situation is regularly worsening in Iraq, the immigration of Iraqis to Jordan slowly but surely continued. In 2006, the number of Iraqis settled in Jordan is estimated to have reached 1 million persons. (The total population of Jordan is 5 millions).

Iraqis who do not possess residency permits to live in Jordan are not allowed to work in the country. Temporary solutions are found as links of family or friendships play a great role in offering job or salary opportunities. But some families who do not have tight links with other Iraqis in Jordan have been without work for the last couple of years. A great number of Iraqi families live below the poverty line, only supported by some non governmental organizations, while others depend on the support given by other family members that have succeeded in settling abroad.

Jordanians were relatively welcoming towards this flow of Iraqis invading the Hashemite Kingdom, understanding the critical situation and fearing the ever increasing level of violence in Iraq. This peaceful relationship saw a turning point in November 2005, after the bombings of 3 hotels in Amman, attacks proven to be perpetrated by Iraqi citizens. A wave of resentment and discrimination towards Iraqi visitors carried by the Jordanian Authorities and Jordanian individuals was witnessed: difficulty of entry at the borders with long interviews and grant of visa of a short limited period of time, systematic check and search of Iraqis at checkpoints or in the street, landlords openly refusing to rent flats to Iraqi nationals, taxi drivers turning down Iraqi passengers, insults and jokes directed to Iraqis, Iraqi cars being damaged, etc..

At the same time of the increasing entrance of Iraqis into Jordan after 2003, the Hashemite Kingdom went through an economic boom. The general cost of life largely increased especially as the price of rents and fuel rocketed. The root cause of this fact was attributed to the Iraqis, bringing their fortunes and fuelling the Jordanian economy. Stories of Iraqis paying flats in cash and offering larger sums of money than initially asked by landlords to own flats, houses and buildings, were largely spread.

In reality, it is estimated that Iraqis would have contributed of only 5% to the economic boom. Other foreign companies, from Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, made large investments in the construction sector, initiating large building projects in Amman and Aqaba.

Nowadays, Mecca Mall, the biggest shopping centre in Amman, is one large Iraqi house. Walk in there with an Iraqi friend, and you will be stopped every 5 steps: members of the extended family, neighbours, college friends, colleagues, acquaintances… it seems that half of Baghdad is daily invading Mecca Mall for shopping.

Iraqis do enjoy staying in Amman, leaving a normal life again, shopping during the day, visiting friends or going out to cafes at night. But do they truly enjoy it deeply in their heart? The red sky of Baghdad will always be calling them back.