{"id":220540,"date":"2017-02-22T12:00:54","date_gmt":"2017-02-22T17:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/?p=220540"},"modified":"2017-02-27T07:31:53","modified_gmt":"2017-02-27T12:31:53","slug":"stuck-in-legal-limbo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2017\/02\/stuck-in-legal-limbo\/","title":{"rendered":"Stuck in legal limbo"},"content":{"rendered":"<header\n\tclass=\"wp-block-harvard-gazette-article-header alignfull article-header is-style-square has-light-background has-colored-heading\"\n\tstyle=\" \"\n>\n\t\n\t<div class=\"article-header__content\">\n\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\tclass=\"article-header__category\"\n\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/nation-world\/\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\tNation &amp; World\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\n\t\t<h1 class=\"article-header__title wp-block-heading has-large-text\">\n\t\tStuck in legal limbo\t<\/h1>\n\n\t\n\t\n\t<div class=\"article-header__meta\">\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-post-author\">\n\t\t\t<address class=\"wp-block-post-author__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"author wp-block-post-author__name\">\n\t\tLiz Mineo\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-post-author__byline\">\n\t\t\tHarvard Staff Writer\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t<time class=\"article-header__date\" datetime=\"2017-02-22\">\n\t\t\tFebruary 22, 2017\t\t<\/time>\n\n\t\t<span class=\"article-header__reading-time\">\n\t\t\t4 min read\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"article-header__subheading wp-block-heading\">\n\t\t\tSome Syrian refugees in Jordan lack documentation, so they wait and wait\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\n<\/header>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide has-global-padding is-content-justification-center is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n\n\n\t\t\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-harvard-gazette-supporting-content alignleft supporting-content\" id=\"supporting-content-ae566052-5b34-4ae7-9783-1693dcd76d93\">\n\t<div class=\"featured-articles is-post-type-post is-style-grid-list\"  style=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"featured-articles__title wp-block-heading\">More like this<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t<ul class=\"featured-articles__list \">\n\t\t\n\t\t<li class=\"featured-article \">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"featured-article__image\">\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/011817_hariri_mahmoud_011605.jpg?resize=1200%2C750\" class=\"attachment-large-landscape-desktop size-large-landscape-desktop\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<div class=\"featured-article__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"featured-article__category\" href=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/nation-world\/\">\n\t\t\tNation &amp; World\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"featured-article__title wp-block-heading \"><a href=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2017\/02\/hands-of-a-healer-heart-of-a-syrian\/\">Hands of a healer, heart of a Syrian<\/a><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"featured-article__meta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<time class=\"featured-article__date\" datetime=\"2017-02-08\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFebruary 8, 2017\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/time>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"featured-article__reading-time\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t5 min read\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/li>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\r\n\r\n<p>When human rights clinical instructor Anna Crowe first began documenting the legal challenges faced by Syrian refugees in Jordan, she found a tangled system that put their lives on hold. Thousands of refugees, stuck in legal limbo, were vulnerable to risks ranging from statelessness to relocation to refugee camps.<\/p>\n<p>In Jordan, Syrian refugees must register with the interior ministry to obtain identity cards, which allow them access to health care, education, work permits, and humanitarian assistance. But to obtain the cards, the refugees need to show their original Syrian identity documents, which many lost in transit. They are caught in a catch-22.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn theory, everyone or most people should be able to get the card,\u201d said Crowe. \u201cBut there are practical challenges refugees face, which means that tens of thousands don\u2019t actually have those cards.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lack of documentation is an aspect of the Syrian refugee crisis that doesn\u2019t grab the same headlines as the harrowing scenes of people rescued from the rubble of a bombed city or drowned in the Mediterranean while fleeing to Europe. But the consequences for stranded refugees can be crippling.<\/p>\n<p>Without legal status in Jordan, some refugees live in fear on the fringes of society, risking poverty and exploitation, or even deportation back to their war-torn country. If they don\u2019t have documents that authorize them to leave a refugee camp, they\u2019re stuck there. If they do leave camp without authorization, they cannot obtain work permits or access public health services or move freely. Especially vulnerable are Syrian refugee children who lack birth certificates, and are at risk of becoming stateless.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDocumentation is the gateway to a variety of human rights, rights to health, education, nationality, and so on,\u201d said Crowe, who teaches at the <a href=\"http:\/\/hrp.law.harvard.edu\/about\/\">Human Rights Program<\/a> at <a href=\"http:\/\/hls.harvard.edu\">Harvard Law School<\/a> (HLS). \u201cBut by and large, documents give refugees a feeling of safety, a recognition that they\u2019re allowed to stay there, and a proof of who they are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<p>Crowe, LL.M. \u201912, traveled to Jordan with HLS students in 2015 and 2016 to document the situation for two reports done in collaboration with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nrc.no\">Norwegian Refugee Council<\/a>, a major humanitarian organization. Launched last November in Amman, the second <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nrc.no\/globalassets\/pdf\/reports\/securing-status.pdf\">report<\/a> urged the Jordanian government and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to come up with new policies to regularize the legal status of the undocumented Syrians.<\/p>\n<p>Of 515,000 Syrian refugees registered with UNHCR as living outside refugee camps, more than 370,000 have obtained identity cards from the interior ministry, but around 145,000 who should have the cards do not. An additional 17,000 refugees who have left the camps without authorization cannot be eligible to obtain identity cards.<\/p>\n<p>There are too many obstacles for refugees to prove their legal status and not enough pathways to mitigate their plight, said Crowe.<\/p>\n<p>While working on the report, Crowe listened to refugees\u2019 stories. One family was stopped by the police and separated when the father was sent back to a refugee camp because he lacked documents. A pregnant woman used her sister-in-law\u2019s documents to give birth in a hospital and received a birth notice under her relative\u2019s name, placing the mother in a precarious legal situation. And if refugees are exploited or are victims of a crime, they may not contact the police because that could lead to deportation or being sent back to the camps.<\/p>\n<p>Alexandra Jumper, J.D. \u201918, one of the students who traveled with Crowe, said that working on the report gave her a close-up look at real-world problems. The report\u2019s main contributions, Jumper said, involve mapping out the complex process for the refugees to obtain documents, offering recommendations, and putting human faces on the problem.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe voices of refugees helped us explain the problem and the emotional and psychological toll that takes on people when you are in a country that is not your own, as a refugee, and you don\u2019t have documentation,\u201d said Jumper. \u201cMaybe with this report, people might pay more attention to the refugee crisis and the way national policies can affect people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A clinical instructor at the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School, Anna Crowe traveled to Jordan to study the challenges some Syrian refugees face to obtain the legal documentation they need to access basic services and humanitarian assistance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108352576,"featured_media":220545,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"gz_ga_pageviews":18,"gz_ga_lastupdated":"2018-11-29 04:08","document_color_palette":null,"author":"Liz Mineo","affiliation":"Harvard Staff Writer","_category_override":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1378],"tags":[37846,15870,17426,18120,32976],"gazette-formats":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-220540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nation-world","tag-anna-crowe","tag-harvard-law-school","tag-human-rights-program","tag-international-human-rights-clinic","tag-syrian-refugees"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v23.0 (Yoast SEO v27.1.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Stuck in legal limbo &#8212; 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World\",\"author\":[{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"name\":\"gazettejohnbaglione\"}],\"creator\":[\"gazettejohnbaglione\"],\"publisher\":{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"name\":\"Harvard Gazette\",\"logo\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.harvard.edu\\\/gazette\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/12\\\/Harvard_Gazette_logo.svg\"},\"keywords\":[\"anna crowe\",\"harvard law school\",\"human rights program\",\"international human rights clinic\",\"syrian refugees\"],\"dateCreated\":\"2017-02-22T17:00:54Z\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-02-22T17:00:54Z\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-02-27T12:31:53Z\"}<\/script>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/news.harvard.edu\/p.js"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/020217_crowe_anna_191_605.jpg","has_blocks":true,"block_data":{"0":{"blockName":"harvard-gazette\/article-header","attrs":{"blockColorPalette":"","coloredHeading":"","creditText":"","displayDetails":"","displayTitle":"","categoryId":1378,"mediaAlt":"","mediaCaption":"","mediaId":"","mediaSize":"","mediaType":"","mediaUrl":"","poster":"","title":"Stuck in legal limbo","subheading":"Some Syrian refugees in Jordan lack documentation, so they wait and wait","className":"is-style-square","backgroundFixed":false,"backgroundTone":"light","centeredImage":false,"coloredBackground":false,"displayOverlay":true,"fadeInText":false,"isAmbient":false,"mediaHeight":0,"mediaLength":"","mediaPosition":"","mediaWidth":0,"posterText":"","titleAbove":false,"useUncroppedImage":false,"lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"","innerContent":[],"rendered":"<header\n\tclass=\"wp-block-harvard-gazette-article-header alignfull article-header is-style-square has-light-background has-colored-heading\"\n\tstyle=\" \"\n>\n\t\n\t<div class=\"article-header__content\">\n\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\tclass=\"article-header__category\"\n\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/nation-world\/\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\tNation &amp; World\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\n\t\t<h1 class=\"article-header__title wp-block-heading has-large-text\">\n\t\tStuck in legal limbo\t<\/h1>\n\n\t\n\t\n\t<div class=\"article-header__meta\">\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-post-author\">\n\t\t\t<address class=\"wp-block-post-author__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"author wp-block-post-author__name\">\n\t\tLiz Mineo\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-post-author__byline\">\n\t\t\tHarvard Staff Writer\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t<time class=\"article-header__date\" datetime=\"2017-02-22\">\n\t\t\tFebruary 22, 2017\t\t<\/time>\n\n\t\t<span class=\"article-header__reading-time\">\n\t\t\t4 min read\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"article-header__subheading wp-block-heading\">\n\t\t\tSome Syrian refugees in Jordan lack documentation, so they wait and wait\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\n<\/header>\n"},"2":{"blockName":"core\/group","attrs":{"templateLock":false,"metadata":{"name":"Article content"},"align":"wide","layout":{"type":"constrained","justifyContent":"center"},"tagName":"div","lock":[],"className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","ariaLabel":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[{"blockName":"core\/freeform","attrs":{"content":"","lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n\t\t","innerContent":["\n\t\t"],"rendered":"\n\t\t"},{"blockName":"harvard-gazette\/supporting-content","attrs":{"id":"ae566052-5b34-4ae7-9783-1693dcd76d93","align":"left","allowedBlocks":[],"style":[],"lock":[],"metadata":[],"className":""},"innerBlocks":[{"blockName":"harvard-gazette\/featured-articles","attrs":{"autoGenerate":false,"className":"is-style-grid-list","inPostContent":true,"numberOfPosts":1,"postIds":[220782],"showExcerpt":false,"title":"More like this","category":"","carouselOnDesktop":false,"isEditor":false,"linkText":"See all book reviews","passPostIds":false,"postOverrides":[],"postTypeOverride":"post","receivePostIds":false,"series":"","showCategory":true,"showDate":true,"gridColumns":2,"showDropShadow":false,"showFormat":true,"showImage":true,"showImageZoom":false,"showSeries":true,"showReadMore":true,"showReadTime":true,"tags":[],"useCurrentTerm":false,"lock":[],"metadata":[],"align":"","style":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"","innerContent":[],"rendered":"\n\t<div class=\"featured-articles is-post-type-post is-style-grid-list\"  style=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"featured-articles__title wp-block-heading\">More like this<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t<ul class=\"featured-articles__list \">\n\t\t\n\t\t<li class=\"featured-article \">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"featured-article__image\">\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1200\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/011817_hariri_mahmoud_011605.jpg?resize=1200%2C750\" class=\"attachment-large-landscape-desktop size-large-landscape-desktop\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<div class=\"featured-article__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"featured-article__category\" href=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/nation-world\/\">\n\t\t\tNation &amp; World\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"featured-article__title wp-block-heading \"><a href=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2017\/02\/hands-of-a-healer-heart-of-a-syrian\/\">Hands of a healer, heart of a Syrian<\/a><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"featured-article__meta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<time class=\"featured-article__date\" datetime=\"2017-02-08\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFebruary 8, 2017\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/time>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"featured-article__reading-time\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t5 min read\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/li>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t"}],"innerHTML":"<div class=\"wp-block-harvard-gazette-supporting-content alignleft supporting-content\" id=\"supporting-content-ae566052-5b34-4ae7-9783-1693dcd76d93\"><\/div>","innerContent":["<div class=\"wp-block-harvard-gazette-supporting-content alignleft supporting-content\" id=\"supporting-content-ae566052-5b34-4ae7-9783-1693dcd76d93\">","<\/div>"],"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-harvard-gazette-supporting-content alignleft supporting-content\" id=\"supporting-content-ae566052-5b34-4ae7-9783-1693dcd76d93\">\n\t<div class=\"featured-articles is-post-type-post is-style-grid-list\"  style=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"featured-articles__title wp-block-heading\">More like this<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t<ul class=\"featured-articles__list \">\n\t\t\n\t\t<li class=\"featured-article \">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"featured-article__image\">\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1200\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/011817_hariri_mahmoud_011605.jpg?resize=1200%2C750\" class=\"attachment-large-landscape-desktop size-large-landscape-desktop\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<div class=\"featured-article__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"featured-article__category\" href=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/nation-world\/\">\n\t\t\tNation &amp; World\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"featured-article__title wp-block-heading \"><a href=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2017\/02\/hands-of-a-healer-heart-of-a-syrian\/\">Hands of a healer, heart of a Syrian<\/a><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"featured-article__meta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<time class=\"featured-article__date\" datetime=\"2017-02-08\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFebruary 8, 2017\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/time>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"featured-article__reading-time\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t5 min read\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/li>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>"},{"blockName":"core\/freeform","attrs":{"content":"","lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\r\n<p>When human rights clinical instructor Anna Crowe first began documenting the legal challenges faced by Syrian refugees in Jordan, she found a tangled system that put their lives on hold. Thousands of refugees, stuck in legal limbo, were vulnerable to risks ranging from statelessness to relocation to refugee camps.<\/p>\n<p>In Jordan, Syrian refugees must register with the interior ministry to obtain identity cards, which allow them access to health care, education, work permits, and humanitarian assistance. But to obtain the cards, the refugees need to show their original Syrian identity documents, which many lost in transit. They are caught in a catch-22.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn theory, everyone or most people should be able to get the card,\u201d said Crowe. \u201cBut there are practical challenges refugees face, which means that tens of thousands don\u2019t actually have those cards.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lack of documentation is an aspect of the Syrian refugee crisis that doesn\u2019t grab the same headlines as the harrowing scenes of people rescued from the rubble of a bombed city or drowned in the Mediterranean while fleeing to Europe. But the consequences for stranded refugees can be crippling.<\/p>\n<p>Without legal status in Jordan, some refugees live in fear on the fringes of society, risking poverty and exploitation, or even deportation back to their war-torn country. If they don\u2019t have documents that authorize them to leave a refugee camp, they\u2019re stuck there. If they do leave camp without authorization, they cannot obtain work permits or access public health services or move freely. Especially vulnerable are Syrian refugee children who lack birth certificates, and are at risk of becoming stateless.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDocumentation is the gateway to a variety of human rights, rights to health, education, nationality, and so on,\u201d said Crowe, who teaches at the <a href=\"http:\/\/hrp.law.harvard.edu\/about\/\">Human Rights Program<\/a> at <a href=\"http:\/\/hls.harvard.edu\">Harvard Law School<\/a> (HLS). \u201cBut by and large, documents give refugees a feeling of safety, a recognition that they\u2019re allowed to stay there, and a proof of who they are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<p>Crowe, LL.M. \u201912, traveled to Jordan with HLS students in 2015 and 2016 to document the situation for two reports done in collaboration with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nrc.no\">Norwegian Refugee Council<\/a>, a major humanitarian organization. Launched last November in Amman, the second <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nrc.no\/globalassets\/pdf\/reports\/securing-status.pdf\">report<\/a> urged the Jordanian government and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to come up with new policies to regularize the legal status of the undocumented Syrians.<\/p>\n<p>Of 515,000 Syrian refugees registered with UNHCR as living outside refugee camps, more than 370,000 have obtained identity cards from the interior ministry, but around 145,000 who should have the cards do not. An additional 17,000 refugees who have left the camps without authorization cannot be eligible to obtain identity cards.<\/p>\n<p>There are too many obstacles for refugees to prove their legal status and not enough pathways to mitigate their plight, said Crowe.<\/p>\n<p>While working on the report, Crowe listened to refugees\u2019 stories. One family was stopped by the police and separated when the father was sent back to a refugee camp because he lacked documents. A pregnant woman used her sister-in-law\u2019s documents to give birth in a hospital and received a birth notice under her relative\u2019s name, placing the mother in a precarious legal situation. And if refugees are exploited or are victims of a crime, they may not contact the police because that could lead to deportation or being sent back to the camps.<\/p>\n<p>Alexandra Jumper, J.D. \u201918, one of the students who traveled with Crowe, said that working on the report gave her a close-up look at real-world problems. The report\u2019s main contributions, Jumper said, involve mapping out the complex process for the refugees to obtain documents, offering recommendations, and putting human faces on the problem.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe voices of refugees helped us explain the problem and the emotional and psychological toll that takes on people when you are in a country that is not your own, as a refugee, and you don\u2019t have documentation,\u201d said Jumper. \u201cMaybe with this report, people might pay more attention to the refugee crisis and the way national policies can affect people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","innerContent":["\r\n<p>When human rights clinical instructor Anna Crowe first began documenting the legal challenges faced by Syrian refugees in Jordan, she found a tangled system that put their lives on hold. Thousands of refugees, stuck in legal limbo, were vulnerable to risks ranging from statelessness to relocation to refugee camps.<\/p>\n<p>In Jordan, Syrian refugees must register with the interior ministry to obtain identity cards, which allow them access to health care, education, work permits, and humanitarian assistance. But to obtain the cards, the refugees need to show their original Syrian identity documents, which many lost in transit. They are caught in a catch-22.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn theory, everyone or most people should be able to get the card,\u201d said Crowe. \u201cBut there are practical challenges refugees face, which means that tens of thousands don\u2019t actually have those cards.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lack of documentation is an aspect of the Syrian refugee crisis that doesn\u2019t grab the same headlines as the harrowing scenes of people rescued from the rubble of a bombed city or drowned in the Mediterranean while fleeing to Europe. But the consequences for stranded refugees can be crippling.<\/p>\n<p>Without legal status in Jordan, some refugees live in fear on the fringes of society, risking poverty and exploitation, or even deportation back to their war-torn country. If they don\u2019t have documents that authorize them to leave a refugee camp, they\u2019re stuck there. If they do leave camp without authorization, they cannot obtain work permits or access public health services or move freely. Especially vulnerable are Syrian refugee children who lack birth certificates, and are at risk of becoming stateless.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDocumentation is the gateway to a variety of human rights, rights to health, education, nationality, and so on,\u201d said Crowe, who teaches at the <a href=\"http:\/\/hrp.law.harvard.edu\/about\/\">Human Rights Program<\/a> at <a href=\"http:\/\/hls.harvard.edu\">Harvard Law School<\/a> (HLS). \u201cBut by and large, documents give refugees a feeling of safety, a recognition that they\u2019re allowed to stay there, and a proof of who they are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<p>Crowe, LL.M. \u201912, traveled to Jordan with HLS students in 2015 and 2016 to document the situation for two reports done in collaboration with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nrc.no\">Norwegian Refugee Council<\/a>, a major humanitarian organization. Launched last November in Amman, the second <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nrc.no\/globalassets\/pdf\/reports\/securing-status.pdf\">report<\/a> urged the Jordanian government and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to come up with new policies to regularize the legal status of the undocumented Syrians.<\/p>\n<p>Of 515,000 Syrian refugees registered with UNHCR as living outside refugee camps, more than 370,000 have obtained identity cards from the interior ministry, but around 145,000 who should have the cards do not. An additional 17,000 refugees who have left the camps without authorization cannot be eligible to obtain identity cards.<\/p>\n<p>There are too many obstacles for refugees to prove their legal status and not enough pathways to mitigate their plight, said Crowe.<\/p>\n<p>While working on the report, Crowe listened to refugees\u2019 stories. One family was stopped by the police and separated when the father was sent back to a refugee camp because he lacked documents. A pregnant woman used her sister-in-law\u2019s documents to give birth in a hospital and received a birth notice under her relative\u2019s name, placing the mother in a precarious legal situation. And if refugees are exploited or are victims of a crime, they may not contact the police because that could lead to deportation or being sent back to the camps.<\/p>\n<p>Alexandra Jumper, J.D. \u201918, one of the students who traveled with Crowe, said that working on the report gave her a close-up look at real-world problems. The report\u2019s main contributions, Jumper said, involve mapping out the complex process for the refugees to obtain documents, offering recommendations, and putting human faces on the problem.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe voices of refugees helped us explain the problem and the emotional and psychological toll that takes on people when you are in a country that is not your own, as a refugee, and you don\u2019t have documentation,\u201d said Jumper. \u201cMaybe with this report, people might pay more attention to the refugee crisis and the way national policies can affect people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\r\n<p>When human rights clinical instructor Anna Crowe first began documenting the legal challenges faced by Syrian refugees in Jordan, she found a tangled system that put their lives on hold. Thousands of refugees, stuck in legal limbo, were vulnerable to risks ranging from statelessness to relocation to refugee camps.<\/p>\n<p>In Jordan, Syrian refugees must register with the interior ministry to obtain identity cards, which allow them access to health care, education, work permits, and humanitarian assistance. But to obtain the cards, the refugees need to show their original Syrian identity documents, which many lost in transit. They are caught in a catch-22.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn theory, everyone or most people should be able to get the card,\u201d said Crowe. \u201cBut there are practical challenges refugees face, which means that tens of thousands don\u2019t actually have those cards.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lack of documentation is an aspect of the Syrian refugee crisis that doesn\u2019t grab the same headlines as the harrowing scenes of people rescued from the rubble of a bombed city or drowned in the Mediterranean while fleeing to Europe. But the consequences for stranded refugees can be crippling.<\/p>\n<p>Without legal status in Jordan, some refugees live in fear on the fringes of society, risking poverty and exploitation, or even deportation back to their war-torn country. If they don\u2019t have documents that authorize them to leave a refugee camp, they\u2019re stuck there. If they do leave camp without authorization, they cannot obtain work permits or access public health services or move freely. Especially vulnerable are Syrian refugee children who lack birth certificates, and are at risk of becoming stateless.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDocumentation is the gateway to a variety of human rights, rights to health, education, nationality, and so on,\u201d said Crowe, who teaches at the <a href=\"http:\/\/hrp.law.harvard.edu\/about\/\">Human Rights Program<\/a> at <a href=\"http:\/\/hls.harvard.edu\">Harvard Law School<\/a> (HLS). \u201cBut by and large, documents give refugees a feeling of safety, a recognition that they\u2019re allowed to stay there, and a proof of who they are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<p>Crowe, LL.M. \u201912, traveled to Jordan with HLS students in 2015 and 2016 to document the situation for two reports done in collaboration with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nrc.no\">Norwegian Refugee Council<\/a>, a major humanitarian organization. Launched last November in Amman, the second <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nrc.no\/globalassets\/pdf\/reports\/securing-status.pdf\">report<\/a> urged the Jordanian government and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to come up with new policies to regularize the legal status of the undocumented Syrians.<\/p>\n<p>Of 515,000 Syrian refugees registered with UNHCR as living outside refugee camps, more than 370,000 have obtained identity cards from the interior ministry, but around 145,000 who should have the cards do not. An additional 17,000 refugees who have left the camps without authorization cannot be eligible to obtain identity cards.<\/p>\n<p>There are too many obstacles for refugees to prove their legal status and not enough pathways to mitigate their plight, said Crowe.<\/p>\n<p>While working on the report, Crowe listened to refugees\u2019 stories. One family was stopped by the police and separated when the father was sent back to a refugee camp because he lacked documents. A pregnant woman used her sister-in-law\u2019s documents to give birth in a hospital and received a birth notice under her relative\u2019s name, placing the mother in a precarious legal situation. And if refugees are exploited or are victims of a crime, they may not contact the police because that could lead to deportation or being sent back to the camps.<\/p>\n<p>Alexandra Jumper, J.D. \u201918, one of the students who traveled with Crowe, said that working on the report gave her a close-up look at real-world problems. The report\u2019s main contributions, Jumper said, involve mapping out the complex process for the refugees to obtain documents, offering recommendations, and putting human faces on the problem.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe voices of refugees helped us explain the problem and the emotional and psychological toll that takes on people when you are in a country that is not your own, as a refugee, and you don\u2019t have documentation,\u201d said Jumper. \u201cMaybe with this report, people might pay more attention to the refugee crisis and the way national policies can affect people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n"}],"innerHTML":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide\">\n\n\r\n\r\n\n\n<\/div>\n","innerContent":["\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide\">\n\n","\r\n","\r\n","\n\n<\/div>\n"],"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide has-global-padding is-content-justification-center is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n\n\n\t\t\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-harvard-gazette-supporting-content alignleft supporting-content\" id=\"supporting-content-ae566052-5b34-4ae7-9783-1693dcd76d93\">\n\t<div class=\"featured-articles is-post-type-post is-style-grid-list\"  style=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"featured-articles__title wp-block-heading\">More like this<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t<ul class=\"featured-articles__list \">\n\t\t\n\t\t<li class=\"featured-article \">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"featured-article__image\">\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1200\" height=\"750\" src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/011817_hariri_mahmoud_011605.jpg?resize=1200%2C750\" class=\"attachment-large-landscape-desktop size-large-landscape-desktop\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<div class=\"featured-article__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"featured-article__category\" href=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/nation-world\/\">\n\t\t\tNation &amp; World\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"featured-article__title wp-block-heading \"><a href=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2017\/02\/hands-of-a-healer-heart-of-a-syrian\/\">Hands of a healer, heart of a Syrian<\/a><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"featured-article__meta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<time class=\"featured-article__date\" datetime=\"2017-02-08\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFebruary 8, 2017\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/time>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"featured-article__reading-time\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t5 min read\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/li>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\r\n\r\n<p>When human rights clinical instructor Anna Crowe first began documenting the legal challenges faced by Syrian refugees in Jordan, she found a tangled system that put their lives on hold. Thousands of refugees, stuck in legal limbo, were vulnerable to risks ranging from statelessness to relocation to refugee camps.<\/p>\n<p>In Jordan, Syrian refugees must register with the interior ministry to obtain identity cards, which allow them access to health care, education, work permits, and humanitarian assistance. But to obtain the cards, the refugees need to show their original Syrian identity documents, which many lost in transit. They are caught in a catch-22.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn theory, everyone or most people should be able to get the card,\u201d said Crowe. \u201cBut there are practical challenges refugees face, which means that tens of thousands don\u2019t actually have those cards.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lack of documentation is an aspect of the Syrian refugee crisis that doesn\u2019t grab the same headlines as the harrowing scenes of people rescued from the rubble of a bombed city or drowned in the Mediterranean while fleeing to Europe. But the consequences for stranded refugees can be crippling.<\/p>\n<p>Without legal status in Jordan, some refugees live in fear on the fringes of society, risking poverty and exploitation, or even deportation back to their war-torn country. If they don\u2019t have documents that authorize them to leave a refugee camp, they\u2019re stuck there. If they do leave camp without authorization, they cannot obtain work permits or access public health services or move freely. Especially vulnerable are Syrian refugee children who lack birth certificates, and are at risk of becoming stateless.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDocumentation is the gateway to a variety of human rights, rights to health, education, nationality, and so on,\u201d said Crowe, who teaches at the <a href=\"http:\/\/hrp.law.harvard.edu\/about\/\">Human Rights Program<\/a> at <a href=\"http:\/\/hls.harvard.edu\">Harvard Law School<\/a> (HLS). \u201cBut by and large, documents give refugees a feeling of safety, a recognition that they\u2019re allowed to stay there, and a proof of who they are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<p>Crowe, LL.M. \u201912, traveled to Jordan with HLS students in 2015 and 2016 to document the situation for two reports done in collaboration with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nrc.no\">Norwegian Refugee Council<\/a>, a major humanitarian organization. Launched last November in Amman, the second <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nrc.no\/globalassets\/pdf\/reports\/securing-status.pdf\">report<\/a> urged the Jordanian government and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to come up with new policies to regularize the legal status of the undocumented Syrians.<\/p>\n<p>Of 515,000 Syrian refugees registered with UNHCR as living outside refugee camps, more than 370,000 have obtained identity cards from the interior ministry, but around 145,000 who should have the cards do not. An additional 17,000 refugees who have left the camps without authorization cannot be eligible to obtain identity cards.<\/p>\n<p>There are too many obstacles for refugees to prove their legal status and not enough pathways to mitigate their plight, said Crowe.<\/p>\n<p>While working on the report, Crowe listened to refugees\u2019 stories. One family was stopped by the police and separated when the father was sent back to a refugee camp because he lacked documents. A pregnant woman used her sister-in-law\u2019s documents to give birth in a hospital and received a birth notice under her relative\u2019s name, placing the mother in a precarious legal situation. And if refugees are exploited or are victims of a crime, they may not contact the police because that could lead to deportation or being sent back to the camps.<\/p>\n<p>Alexandra Jumper, J.D. \u201918, one of the students who traveled with Crowe, said that working on the report gave her a close-up look at real-world problems. The report\u2019s main contributions, Jumper said, involve mapping out the complex process for the refugees to obtain documents, offering recommendations, and putting human faces on the problem.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe voices of refugees helped us explain the problem and the emotional and psychological toll that takes on people when you are in a country that is not your own, as a refugee, and you don\u2019t have documentation,\u201d said Jumper. \u201cMaybe with this report, people might pay more attention to the refugee crisis and the way national policies can affect people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n"}},"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":152066,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2014\/02\/plight-of-syrian-refugees-in-lebanon-becoming-desperate\/","url_meta":{"origin":220540,"position":0},"title":"Perilous plight for Syrian refugees in Lebanon","author":"harvardgazette","date":"February 5, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Syrian refugees struggling in Lebanon are on the edge of catastrophe, according to a new report from the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Nation &amp; World&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Nation &amp; World","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/nation-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/012914_bartels_1005_605.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/012914_bartels_1005_605.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/012914_bartels_1005_605.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":174015,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2015\/09\/europes-crisis-of-conscience\/","url_meta":{"origin":220540,"position":1},"title":"Europe\u2019s crisis of conscience","author":"harvardgazette","date":"September 24, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Panelists discuss the ongoing humanitarian crisis as millions of Syrian refugees fleeing civil war find disparate receptions in European nations.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Nation &amp; World&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Nation &amp; World","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/nation-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/092315_europe_023_605.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/092315_europe_023_605.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/092315_europe_023_605.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":176468,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2015\/11\/deeper-crisis\/","url_meta":{"origin":220540,"position":2},"title":"Deeper crisis","author":"harvardgazette","date":"November 20, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Professors Jacqueline Bhabha and Michael Ignatieff talked about the Syrian refugee crisis in the wake of the Paris attacks in an event sponsored by the Mahindra Humanities Center.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Nation &amp; World&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Nation &amp; World","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/nation-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/111715_refugee_crisis_021_605.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/111715_refugee_crisis_021_605.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/111715_refugee_crisis_021_605.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":232321,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2017\/10\/law-school-affiliates-have-impact-on-international-group-that-won-peace-prize\/","url_meta":{"origin":220540,"position":3},"title":"Beyond the Nobel Peace Prize","author":"gazettejohnbaglione","date":"October 31, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Two Harvard Law clinicians and four students took part in negotiating the treaty banning nuclear weapons as partners of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, which recently received the Nobel Peace Prize.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Nation &amp; World&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Nation &amp; World","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/nation-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/lizm_35521579131_0b4c791235_o_605.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/lizm_35521579131_0b4c791235_o_605.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/lizm_35521579131_0b4c791235_o_605.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":184956,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2016\/06\/left-to-their-demons\/","url_meta":{"origin":220540,"position":4},"title":"Left to their demons","author":"harvardgazette","date":"June 17, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Gazette spoke with psychologist Richard Mollica about a lesser known crisis zone for the displaced: mental health.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Nation &amp; World&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Nation &amp; World","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/nation-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/turkey_605.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/turkey_605.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/turkey_605.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":163172,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2014\/11\/defining-rights\/","url_meta":{"origin":220540,"position":5},"title":"Defining rights","author":"harvardgazette","date":"November 13, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Researchers from around the world came to Harvard to examine the rise of international court cases on issues of sexual and reproductive rights.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Health&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Health","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/health\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/100614_reprolaw_277_605.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/100614_reprolaw_277_605.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/100614_reprolaw_277_605.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/108352576"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220540"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":221304,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220540\/revisions\/221304"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/220545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220540"},{"taxonomy":"format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/gazette-formats?post=220540"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=220540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}