From Kuwait to Jordan: The Palestinians' Third Exodus

Abstract

With the Gulf crisis of 1991, some 300,000 Jordanians, overwhelmingly of Palestinian origin, "returned" from Kuwait to Jordan, where their repatriation both strained resources and stimulated the economy. Initiatives to help the returnees-both by the government and the UN Compensation Commission-ultimately proved less effective than the returnees' own efforts. While there are a number of obstacles to integration into Jordan, including attitudes among the returnees, the long-term prospects for such integration seem promising.

How Mass Immigration Affects Countries with Weak Economic Institutions: A Natural Experiment in Jordan

“…During the same period Jordan's chain-linked EFW score rose from a low of 5.37 in 1975 to 5.65 in 1990. The shrinking economy, regional political instability, war, and a precarious situation with foreign lenders made the timing difficult to absorb a massive surge of refugees or reform economic institutions (Gelos 1995;Troquer and al Oudat 1999;Mruwat, Adwan, and Cunningham 2001;Manuel 1991).…”

Profiles of Refugee and Non‐Refugee Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza

“…This sudden mass return led to a substantial rise in unemployment rates. An unknown number of Palestinians from Kuwait, irrespective of citizenship, have the international status of "refugee", having been registered with the UNRWA at the time of the 1948 exodus and retained that status despite their residence in Kuwait (Troquer and Al-Oudat, 1999).…”

How Mass Immigration Affects Countries with Weak Economic Institutions: A Natural Experiment in Jordan

“…The Jordanian government erroneously estimated that GDP declined by 30 percent in the last five months of 1990 (Piro 1998). As the Jordanian government saw it, their most important task was to get the refugees working without expanding the public sector (al Khouri 2007;Troquer and al Oudat 1999).…”

“…The Palestiniandominated small business sector supported the tax cuts on capital and income but successfully delayed the sales tax's implementation by years, convinced the government to exempt many goods altogether, and to reduce the proposed maximum rate (Knowles 2005). They also lobbied against licensing, regulatory barriers to entry, and trade restrictions that prevented them from importing their property from Kuwait (van Hear 1995;Gelos 1995;Troquer and al Oudat 1999;Zaghal and Freij-Dergarabedian 2004;UNDRO 1990). One reason the government was able to sustain the reforms is that the refugees caused an unexpected economic and employment boom (van Hear 1995).…”