Ninety percent of Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan are living in poverty, according to a new report, but their employment rights are limited because their host nations already have poverty rates that are too high. However, Jordan has taken active steps in collaboration with the World Bank and the UK government to create jobs for Syrian refugees and low-wage workers through “enterprise zones”. The idea, announced by the World Bank, is to create incentives for companies to invest in specific areas and employ refugees and the low-cost local workers that refugees often undercut. If the UK-World Bank plan is successful, it’s hoped the European Union will offer similar incentives to European companies. A solution is desperately needed. According to a new report by the World Bank and United Nations High Commission for Human Rights, titled The Welfare of Syrian Refugees: Evidence From Jordan and Lebanon, nine out of 10 Syrian refugees living in Lebanon and Jordan are in poverty. The report also mentions that economic conditions in Syria in the years leading up to the civil war meant the people that fled to Lebanon and Syria were already “on the move,”…
Unemployed Syrian Refugees in Lebanon and Jordan: A Case of Adding Salt to the Wound
December 26, 2015
