It was said, somewhere, that the government is looking into not extending permits to Syrian cars beyond the three initial months. The issue, it was also said, will involve approximately 50,000 cars, which would have to be sold in the duty-free area (provided they are not made before 2008) or the owners would be forced to license them; that is, pay Jordanian customs and duties.
The government can really make some money out of this! However, not only would such an act make the government seem like wanting to benefit from the plight of the refugees, it would also be really rash from an economic standpoint.
If all Syrian car owners in Jordan decide to pay customs on their vehicles like the rest of us (actually not all of us), the government would receive an average of JD10,000 per car. Provided that all estimated 50,000 cars change plates, the government would net JD500 million, not a bad haul.
On the other hand, if some decide to sell their cars because they (being refugees in a very expensive country such as Jordan) cannot afford to keep them, they would drive the prices of the stock of cars available in the duty-free zone and the market.
Many car dealers would be hurt, but Jordanian consumers would benefit.
Nonetheless, given that people have not been doing very well lately, they most likely would not buy and all would lose.
One finds it very hard to sanction such Machiavellian act. Just because the government is having a rough time financially does not mean that it should attempt to make more money from the refugees.
The government, although denying this, has made plenty of money off them already, without having to make the living conditions of a people that lost everything even harsher.
