Jordan hosts one of the largest refugee populations in the world, yet its legal system has proven inadequate in protecting this vulnerable group. Through his work at the Justice Center for Legal Aid in Amman this past summer, Cormac Thorpe explored the individual-level consequences of the lack of reliable legal access, knowledge, and infrastructure, especially in terms of labor and women’s rights. He also learned about the non-governmental organizations within Jordanian civil society working to challenge existing structures, the approaches they draw on in human rights advocacy, and the international humanitarian apparatus funding and influencing them. In this discussion, Cormac will outline the current predicament of refugees in Jordan, responses from the state and international organizations, and the Jordanian legal system. He will conclude by pointing to strategic litigation, governmental advocacy, and legal aid pathways to future change in Jordan’s approach to refugee protection.
Cormac Thorpe is a junior in Pierson College from New York City studying Global Affairs and Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations at Yale University. He is interested in migration, peacebuilding, and conflict resolution, specifically in the Middle East. On campus, he is the President of the Peace and Dialogue Leadership Initiative and the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Yale Review of International Studies.