Jordan

In 2019, Jordanian authorities continued to curtail freedom of expression, stepping up arrests of 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 approval 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 657,000 Syrian refugees and over 90,000 refugees of other nationalities in 2019, but authorities have not allowed Syrians to enter Jordan to seek asylum since mid-2016 and took steps to prevent others from seeking asylum in 2019.