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‪This article analyzes the humanitarian principles and safety rules that make the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan a device of confinement and compelled dependence for Syrian refugees, who have been settled there since 2012. It demonstrates how this space, initially designed to facilitate refugee reception, has become a site of control and isolation, in a context marked by pressure from global actors aiming to stem migratory flows. It also illustrates how confinement, in its political, legal, spatial, and symbolic dimensions, fosters dependency among refugees, blurring their prospects for the future in the process. Drawing on ethnographic research, this article highlights refugees’ representations and resistance strategies against mobility constraints and limited access to resources.‪