Jordan

In 2018, Jordanian authorities continued to curtail freedom of expression, detaining and bringing charges against activists, dissidents, and journalists, sometimes under broad and vague provisions of the country’s counterterrorism law or electronic crimes law. Though Jordanians no longer require government to hold public meetings or demonstrations, Jordanian authorities continued to arbitrarily block public events without explanation or written order. Jordan discriminates against women by not allowing them to pass Jordanian citizenship to their children. Jordan hosted over 670,000 Syrian refugees in 2018, but Jordan generally did not permit Syrians to enter the country to seek asylum. Thousands of Syrians remained stranded in remote border areas with limited access to humanitarian aid.