“An open air prison,” Ahmad* said of his life in Amman, Jordan, after he fled Syria in 2012.

Working illegally, Ahmad earns 150 JD a month working at a clothes shop, right on the corner of the street in which he lives. With 130 JD going to rent, he is left with just 30 to survive.

It was a dark night in 2012, when Ahmad’s family decided to flee their city of Darayya, a suburb of Damascus, in search of a safer life where dignity was a priority.

“My son was pursued by unknown people, we did not know who they belonged to,” Ahmad said. “It was chaotic, we couldn’t identify if it was the regime or the Free Syrian army at that time,” he added, as his eyes looked upwards and to the left, trying to recall the memory.

Ahmad remains silent for a couple of minutes. He looks down, his eyes tearing, as he recalls his house being raided by unidentified men. His wife was the only one at the house at the time. “She was raped. Humiliated and raped,” he says.

Ahmad and his wife Amal* entered Jordan legally, along with their three “kids,” as Ahmad calls them, all who happen to be above the age of 18.

There are two main types of refugees entering Jordan. The first, like Ahmad, enter legally, meaning they have all correct documentations to be identified. The second are those who enter illegally, and who are obliged to stay at the camps.

Ahmad’s phone rang, “May I answer the phone?", he said, “It's my wife”.

He picked up the phone and introduces her on Skype, a woman in her forties who could not be more optimistic about the future. “Everything is great here, we have our own house, and my son is working at a local restaurant that pays well. All we are asking for is to be reunited with Ahmad”, she says.

Refuge in Germany

Amal is calling Ahmad from Germany, after choosing to leaving Jordan for Europe with her three children two years ago. In search of a better life for herself and her children, Amal embarked on the dangerous journey to Europe, surviving sea, dark forests and sleeping in the middle of nowhere, before she arrived safely in Germany. Meanwhile, Ahmad stayed behind in Jordan, due to poor health conditions.

“My kids got the asylum visa, of which you can stay for three years before renewing it, but unfortunately I got a one year visa, because I missed my appointment at the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees,” she said.

Amal suffered from serious health conditions after the long trip to Europe, leading her to stay at the hospital for an extended period of time. When laws changed during her stay and she could not get a three-years visa, she was forced to prove that she was directly threatened by the regime back in her hometown. However, she has not been able to provide sufficient evidence, and remains on a temporary visa.

Meanwhile, Ahmad tried submitting an application to the German embassy in Amman to be reunited with his family. However, it was rejected since Amal’s visa is temporary (one year which was extended to two more), and does not state her as a “refugee”. What’s more, his children can not apply for their father, as their are above the age of 18.

These legal barriers are stipulated in the 1951 Convention, which forms the basis of which the UN offers both status and rights to those who are defined as “refugees.”

Jordan’s refugee crisis

Jordan has been receiving refugees of different nationalities since 1948, starting with Palestinians, Iraqis and finally with Syrians. However, the number of Syrians entering Jordan remains unclear. While UNHCR show figures of 650,000 refugees registered, Jordan’s government estimates around a million and a half.

Jordan was not a part of the countries falling under the 1951 Convention, but it signed a memorandum with UNHCR of understanding (MOU) to allow the UNHCR to act within its mandate to provide international protection to persons falling within its mandate.

Article 21(1) of the Jordanian Constitution provides that “political refugees shall not be extradited on account of their political beliefs or for their defense of liberty.”

However, it does not appear that Jordan has enacted any legislation that regulates the status of refugees, including those who seek asylum for political reasons, according to Refugee Law and Policy.

Riad Soboh, a human rights activist, said that as long as Jordan accepted receiving the waves of refugees, registration is not a requirement in order to state those people as “refugees.”

Amal: “Hope” in Arabic

Ahmad’s family lawyer told me Amal’s status will not change until March 2018, when a new government in Germany will be elected and the ban on offering permanent visas might be removed.

Ahmad will have to re-submit his application in March, starting the arduous process from scratch and paying up to 47 JOD again.

Submitting these applications may be the smallest problem for refugees, who have to stay updated to the wave of new laws and resolutions taken by the concerned authorities.

However, Ahmad is hopeful that the wait may soon be over. “I have been living in the hell of solitude for more than two years, having to wait for few more months would not be that hard.”

* These names have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.