Expatriates want more interaction with Kingdom’s embassies

DEAD SEA — Although leading a successful, comfortable life away from their homeland, Jordanians residing abroad expressed a "prevailing sense of expatriation" on Tuesday, calling for more efforts to build bridges of communications with them.

Taking part in the Jordanians Expatriates Conference 2015 which convened here, they voiced their hope in the ability of the event to shed light on a very significant segment of Jordanians who not only contribute more than 10 per cent of the GDP — around JD3.6 billion last year — but are also deemed as ambassadors of the Kingdom to the world.

For Suha Akroush, who has been living in Southern California — home to more than 45,000 Jordanians — for thirty-eight years, communicating with expatriates should become a priority for the government.

“More activities should be implemented to engage Jordanians in America, especially the new generations, who should be aware of the history and culture of their own country,” she told The Jordan Times on the sidelines of the three-day gathering, convened by the Ministry of Foreign and Expatriate Affairs.

With her husband chairing the Jordanian-American Club in Southern California, Akroush noted that having the embassy in Washington and the need to travel a long distance to renew passports or pursue other documents is one of the huge challenges members of the Jordanian community suffer from.

For Omar Shobaki, who has been working at the embassy of the United Arab Emirates in Chile for the past five years, the large distance between Jordan and Chile and the small number of Jordanians there are to blame for the “modest” communication with the embassy.

He suggested holding regular meetings between Jordanians in Chile and prospective Jordanian investors to negotiate opening new businesses and providing them with advice.

But in the case of Iman Zada, who has been living in Austria for more than three decades, the difficulties are different.

“Jordan should recognise that the concerns of Jordanians living in the Gulf, for example, are different of those residing in Europe,” said the deputy president of the Jordanian community in Vienna.

The inability to hold dual nationalities in Austria leads them to renounce their Jordanian nationality, she noted.

“This puts them in a difficult situation. We hope that the governments of Jordan and Austria can reach an agreement in this regard [similar to the case of Syrians and Lebanese].”

On the other hand, Jordan’s Ambassador in Vienna Hussam Husseini said not allowing dual citizenship is an Austrian law.

With around 600 Jordanians residing in Austria, the ambassador highlighted the importance of Tuesday’s event in reminding expatriates of their responsibilities towards their original country.

“There are some very influential Jordanians in terms of economy, science and culture. More cooperation is required to see how they can benefit Jordan,” the diplomat told The Jordan Times.

Mustafa Aljidaieh, a former MP who has been living in Vienna for 25 years, agreed.

Aljidaieh, who is the president of the Jordanian community in Austria stressed the need to focus on ways to attract vital projects to the Kingdom with the help of expatriates.

“It is true that only around 750,000 Jordanians reside abroad, which is a small number compared to the Lebanese and Egyptians, but Jordan now has realised the significant role this segment can play in the betterment of the country,” said the activist, who also serves as a member of the Austrian Association of Patent Owners and Inventors.

But Jordanians like Mohammad Abu Nawwas, had positive experiences with a Jordanian mission under difficult circumstances. 

As a medical student in Yemen who was recently evacuated to Jordan, he highlighted the efforts of the operations room at the embassy in Yemen in securing the safe return of around 200 Jordanian students.

“When I first reached Yemen to start my education I registered my information there and have kept in contact since then,” he told The Jordan Times, adding that he returned to Jordan three months ago after finishing four years of education and is waiting to be accepted at a public university.

Ibrahim Abu Zayed, who has been away from Jordan since 1975 and currently resides in the UAE, called for establishing a club for Jordanian expatriates in the UAE to facilitate their stay and improve their contacts with the Kingdom’s embassy there.

“The idea can be replicated in all countries,” he told The Jordan Times.

Rym Rahahleh, an interior designer working in Abu Dhabi over the past five years, commended the idea of the conference, hoping that participants would be able to measure the influence of their contributions on public policies and practices.

But for Farah Alami, director of communications and public relations in the Middle East for the Ohio-based Cleveland Clinic, the conference is a chance to network with Jordanian expatriates across the world and to learn from their experiences.

She said that despite many years of living abroad she always feels “proud” to say she is Jordanian.

Although they may be considered by citizens living in Jordan as being away from the hardships facing the Kingdom, expatriates say “Jordan lives inside them” and that they make sure to keep abreast of everything that takes place in the country.

“Although spending all their lives in America, my three children speak the Jordanian dialect. Jordanian heritage is an inseparable part of their identity,” noted Akroush.