🔗 Share this article

Around midday, the heat is high over Petra, fading the vibrant rock formations and briefly clearing its famous remains of visitors. Plants and a shade keep the outdoor area of a local resident’s rock dwelling comfortable despite the searing warmth rising from the rocky valley.

“I’ve resided in this place since birth. I haven’t gone to another location and I cannot imagine living away from here. This land is part of my identity and I won’t leave it,” the middle-aged farmer and occasional local escort said.

Development Plans Endanger Traditional Living

In coming weeks, the resident and dozens of other Bdoul from the Bdoul community are expected to have left the dwellings they call home. There is little place for them in the heritage site as it is transformed by a major development programme that aims to construct modern infrastructure, control an unregulated visitor industry and offer a improved experience for the multitude of tourists attracted to the historical location.

The family’s home, which he shares with his spouse and large family, comprises several connected millennia-old chambers and an adjacent temporary shelter. Just a short stroll away are the remains of the city’s grand temple and its pillared main street. It is also nearby from the monument known as the Treasury, made more famous by the 1989 blockbuster a Hollywood adventure movie.

Historical Significance and Modern Conflict

The caves inhabited by the local community were initially an integral component of a wealthy commercial hub – the flourishing capital of the Nabateans for 500 years prior to it was annexed by the Romans in approximately the first century and finally abandoned hundreds of years after.

International rights campaigners have urged local officials to halt looming displacements. “The country’s removal of the Bdoul from their historic dwellings in the region places their way of life at danger,” said Adam Coogle, a Middle East and north Africa deputy director at an international organization. “The Jordanian government should cease the evictions and respect the rights of the area’s Bedouin community.”

Official Stance and Legal Challenges

Representatives tasked with the management and development of the site claim the residents who still live on the site are there without permission. They contend that several have alternative housing and that their use of the caves as residences, animal shelters, shops and storage areas could lead to creating irreparable harm.

“If we want protect the integrity of the site for coming years then we have to halt the occupation of the dwellings for damaging activities,” stated Dr Fares Braizat, the chief commissioner of the Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority. “All people within the area, regardless of status, has to follow the law, and it is illegal for anyone to reside within or use the historical structures within the protected zone for any purposes.”

Centuries of Residence and Previous Evictions

Historians say the community have lived in Petra’s rock homes for approximately 200 years. Attempts to relocate the community from the area began soon after its classification by the international body as a world heritage site in the mid-1980s. At that time, in a deal arranged with community leaders, many families of residents were transferred to a purpose-built village nearby. A number avoided the move or have since returned to their original dwellings.

Recently, with tourism a major source to Jordan’s flagging finances, substantial investments have been made at the site. There is a new museum, cultural village and network of walking trails. Numerous of stands that choked the site have been removed, as have escorts who harassed tourists. An initiative has been undertaken to cut down on overnight stays in caves being advertised to tourists on social media or popular booking sites.

Current Eviction Campaign

A recent initiative to clear the homes began in late 2024 and focused on a dozen or so of extended families now living near the local highland. The government have been accused by advocates of using “pressure methods”.

The resident, who makes a modest living from raising goats and sheep and sometimes acting as a guide, has declined an offer from authorities of a residence in the village where other community members from the area are currently residing. He said he was sent to jail recently for failing to pay a heavy fine for destroying a protected area. He was released after a short period but currently is confronting a new legal proceeding.

“It’s ridiculous to blame us of damaging the dwellings,” Feras said. “We serve as their guardians. We do not destroying anything. We simply live the way we have lived for hundreds of years.”

Another local, one of the resident’s neighbors, mentioned he had also received a legal notice, in addition to fines amounting to tens of thousands of dollars, which he also was unable to pay.

“I simply lack that kind of money. I’m not affluent,” he stated. “I grew up here and I’m unfamiliar with anything else. I can’t survive in a building in a village … Authorities propose only a very small residence but I support 10 children.”

Financial Struggles and Emotional Ties

Visitor numbers in Jordan has been badly hit by the war in Gaza, with the quantity of visitors to the site falling significantly. The Bdoul who made a living from guiding tourists or selling mementos or soft drinks have lost much of their income.

An elderly woman, 85, has vowed to not leave her cave home, where she has lived all her life. Her family are laid to rest in the mountains nearby. “Should authorities attempt to force me move out, I will climb to the summit and jump,” she declared.

Expert Opinion and Official Assurances

Dr Olivia Mason, a university academic at Newcastle University who has studied the area and its changes, said authorities saw the community as a problem, even though the UN stating that their traditional practices was an integral part of the location’s importance.

“At the moment the situation is the government against the Bdoul, and no one acknowledges that they can cooperate,” the expert commented. “It is necessary to have a degree of progress, but that shouldn’t come at the expense of the indigenous population.”

The official indicated authorities had already assured a few very elderly inhabitants that they could remain in their caves if they wanted to, and that the state-constructed houses provided to the community were adequately sized, with multiple rooms and two bathrooms.

He admitted there was restricted funding accessible for new housing in or near the {existing|