Despite the fact that the Government of Jordan agreed to waive the residency requirement and enroll up to 50,000 Iraqi refugee children in school, many children have still not been enrolled. One of the problems has been Jordan’s already over-crowded school system where some Jordanian children struggle to be enrolled, let alone Iraqis. Furthermore, some Iraqi parents, conscious of their precarious legal position in Jordan, and fearful of being deported back to Iraq, have been slow to register their children in government-run schools. Read more about the plight of Iraqi refugees here.

Some 2 million Iraqi refugees across the Middle East will spend a fifth World Refugee Day far from home and even further from any prospect of return or a better life as their needs and rights continue to go largely unaddressed. Photos of refugees in Jordan show they are ‘real people with real needs’ – the theme for this year’s World Refugee Day, 20 June 2009. Photos & text by Ashley Jonathan Clements.