A Grandmother’s Wish
My granddaughter Ina’am is six years old and in first grade. She has lived with me since she was two years old. My daughter, a Jordanian, married a Palestinian. They lived in Palestine after they were married.
There were many disagreements between my daughter and her husband. He was physically abusive to her while they were married. He drank a lot and brought women home on many occasions and would be with them in front of my daughter. He would also burn my daughter with cigarettes.
Finally, my daughter had enough.
She took Ina’am and they fled Palestine and came back to Jordan. They both came to stay with me. My daughter’s husband came to Jordan to take both of them back to Palestine. I asked him to please get a divorce from my daughter and we did not want any of his money. So he divorced my daughter and disappeared. We have not heard from him since.
After 4 years, my daughter got remarried and Ina’am stayed with me. I am worried now because Ina’am needs to start school. She does not have Jordanian citizenship so there will likely be many difficulties enrolling her into public school because they require Jordanian citizenship.
The organization SIGI/J is trying to help my granddaughter. They helped me draft a memo to the Ministry of Interior regarding my granddaughter’s citizenship. But the memo was denied because the Nationality Law in Jordan does not grant citizenship to women who have married non-Jordanian men.
I want only the best for my Ina’am but am unsure of how to give it to her.
Entry Filed under: Countries, Jordan, Testimonies