(Figures do not include family members) For more information on residency rights see the BADIL website Jordan imposes entry restrictions on Palestinians: In early June, Palestinians in the 1967 occupied territories, suffering from severe Israeli restrictions of movement inside and outside the country were surprised by yet additional measures, this time from Jordan.
Palestinians wishing to cross the Allenby Bridge border to Jordan for family visits, medical treatment, or work-related affairs now require special clearance by the Jordanian authorities prior to departure. Numerous Palestinians who were uninformed about this new policy were consequently turned back at the border, including persons on their way to visit sick relatives or attend family funerals.
Palestinian public outrage at the measure was not assuaged by Jordanian assurances that the measure was temporary and coordinated with the Palestinian Authority, nor did the public accept the argument that the measure served joint Palestinian-Jordanian interests in preventing massive Palestinian forced-migration as a result of pressure from Israel's occupation. On 13 June, Palestinian Minister for Civil Affairs, Jamil Tarifi, confirmed that the Jordanian policy was applied without prior consultation with Palestinian officials and that efforts to resolve the problem were under way.
In the meantime, Jordanian officials confirmed that the new travel restrictions were imposed in order to prevent the Palestinian intifada from spreading to Jordan. The measure thus serves to compliment an earlier ban on official pro-intifada demonstrations in light of King Abdullah's alarm at rising unrest in the country.
