ABSTRACT
This chapter sheds light on how young Syrian refugees in Jordan cope with the legal and social situation they find themselves in while in exile. It builds upon the concept that refugees live under suspended rights in exile, threatened to lose their “right to have rights”, in particular in light of the permanence of their stay in exile. Along two elaborative ethnographic accounts the chapter shows how refugee youth break with the rules and practices governing their lives in exile by (re-)enacting certain rights and thus claiming a form of membership. This is achieved through “acts of citizenship” and without the necessary legal right to do so. Through these acts young Syrian refugees reach a form of de facto membership in Jordan, which enables social recognition and secures the ‘right to have rights’. The findings highlight the agency of refugee youth and how, on their own terms, they are able to negotiate a space for themselves in exile and possibilities for their future.
