Baqa'a Camp

Baqa'a camp was one of six "emergency" camps set up in 1968 to accommodate Palestine refugees and displaced people who left the West Bank and Gaza Strip as a result of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

The camp, which is the largest in Jordan, is about 20km north of Amman.

Between June 1967 and February 1968, the refugees and displaced people were housed in temporary camps in the Jordan valley, but had to be moved when military operations escalated in the area. When Baqa'a was set up it was already a large camp, with 5,000 tents for 26,000 refugees over an area of 1.4 square kilometres.

Between 1969 and 1971, UNRWA replaced the tents with 8,000 prefabricated shelters, to protect people from the harsh winters in Jordan. Most of the camp's inhabitants have since built more durable concrete shelters.

Major challenges

Poverty and high unemployment are major challenges facing Baqa’a camp residents. The camp is ranked third of the ten camps in Jordan in poverty with 32 per cent of Palestine refugees in the camp reportedly having an income below the national poverty line of JD 814, according to a Fafo Foundation report published in 2013. 

Baqa’a camp is ranked second of the ten camps in unemployment, with 17 percent of refugees living in the cam unemployed.

Baqa’a camp has the lowest prevalence of chronic health problems of all Palestine refugee camps in Jordan, standing at percent. Still, 46 percent of Palestine refugees in the camp don’t have health insurance.

Upgrading of camp infrastructure and shelter repair and rehabilitation are also major challenges.