Jordan’s Politics through Border Closure: A Twist to ‘Security Threats’

• In Event: Multimethods Approaches to Studying the Politics of Migration

Abstract

Most of the research on Jordanian migration policy revolves around the European Union's policy of externalization and the rent generated by these international negotiations. These studies question Jordan's sovereignty, assuming that its policy results from an imposition by countries from the Global North, or, at best, of Jordan’s ability to derive profits from it. This paper nuances analyses in terms of rent and externalization by studying the closure of the border between Jordan and Syria in 2016. Drawing on the concept of institutional change and sequenced analysis from public policy analysis, I reverse the usual migration policy analysis of Jordan. Instead of studying Jordan's migration policy as the result of a delegation by countries from the so-called Global North, we reveal how the decision to close the border is national, and its implementation international. Indeed, our study of the negotiations surrounding the closure decision demonstrates that the decision was made at a national level, and drew ‘a red line’ as regards the reception of Syrian exiles in Jordan. The study of the implementation phase shows that the international level is at the heart of the border economy, through the funding of its militarization. Humanitarian work, deployed in the camp for displaced persons following the closure of the border, represents another form of delegation of control to Northern-based agencies.

Author

• Emma Empociello, Sciences Po Bordeaux