Interior Minister Samir Habashneh visited the Ruweished refugee camp yesterday, informing the families there of His Majesty King Abdullah's decision to grant them entry "strictly for humanitarian reasons." He emphasized that Jordan is not a passage or a permanent home for refugees and will not deal with them in future. "This file is completely closed." Habashneh said both the Government and UNHCR would examine the remaining 614 cases. When solutions are reached, the camp will be shut down. The refugees remaining at the camp are awaiting visas to other countries, or may decide to return to Palestine, though few are interested in doing this. Another group of over 1,000 refugees - mainly Iranian Kurds - are stranded in the "no-mans-land" between the borders of Iraq and Jordan.

Deputies from the Islamic Action Front have continued to address the refugee issue since the beginning of the extraordinary session. Deputy Ali Abul Sukkar (Zarqa) reopened it during yesterday's session, demanding a Government solution for the prolonged dilemma. He also mentioned the proposal for Jordanian women married to other nationalities to pass on their citizenship to their progeny, urging the Cabinet to translate Her Majesty Queen Rania's wishes to grant the women this legal right.

The Prime Minister thanked IAF deputies for their concerns regarding women's rights. He explained that the Government was being accused of promoting permanent settlement for Palestinians. He said that the political situation and of the Palestinian people's right to return and preserve their nationality must also be considered.

At the 2nd Arab Women's Summit held here in late 2002, during which Queen Rania assumed the summit presidency for two years, the Cabinet was expected to pass a temporary law granting women married to foreigners the right to pass Jordanian nationality on to their children. But the law was never passed.