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Numbers of Syrian refugees and internally displaced people ©http://www.imap-migration.org
Peter Pollard, an activist of the British branch of SCI has visited Syrian refugee camps in Jordan, with the aim of assessing the situation and finding out whether SCI could have a role to play there, within its mission as a volunteer peace organisation. Here is a summary of his report: I spent seven days in Jordan, meeting people and familiarising myself with the culture and people. I met families who had been near to the worse of the fighting in Aleppo and Homs. I was also driven to Zaatari Refugee camp, home to 100,000 displaced Syrian people, close to the Syrian border.
In a Jordanian town, I sat with a refugee family in their temporary house. The TV, which was the only fixture in an otherwise sparse and empty room, constantly showed violent images of the conflict, whilst the family talked, argued and gestured provocatively, in a manner that suggested, the situation was no longer of their making or within their control. Another family, in a similar room, had the blanket they had taken with them from Zaatari camp neatly on display, above their TV. A memento, of their escape of Syria, through Zaatari. A family member showed me a picture of his dead brother on his mobile phone, a victim of the violence. The families kept in contact with Family and friends in Syria, through a series of mobile phones.
A young man, who had fled Syria, told me he had been held by police in Jordan. They had told him he had two choices, he could go directly back to Syria or he could train to fight with the Free Syrian Army, at a camp in Jordan. After training he would be then sent back to Syria, to fight the government. The young man took a third option and is still ‘on the run’ in Jordan (..)
One family’s story
…One man, who had lived with his family in Zaatari, explained that Zaatari was like ?Hell?. No one wanted to be there and people were leaving the camp, saying, they would rather take there chances in Syria being bombed or shot, rather than be in Zaatari. His children told me they used to play football at home and had a computer but had to leave it behind. (..)
None of the family was in employment in Jordan, apart from the fourteen year old, eldest son. He was missing school and for a twelve hour day, working as a welders mate, he was receiving, two Jordanian dollars per day. To put the wage into perspective, I paid three JD, for an average bag of nuts from the local shop. His hands were dark grey from the oil and material he was using and he complained of being tired because of the long hours. The father lastly explained that the most uninspiring part of being a refugee was the boredom of being unemployed and the inability to provide for his family. Mother explained, the family had only left Syria with a few possessions and had very little means to even repair or sew clothes or things. I thanked the family for their hospitality and tea and said good night (..)
Refugees and locals
People are still very fearful of talking and having photographs taken, because of the fear of recriminations from the police if they return to Syria. They are now unsure of their futures and feel there are problems with the Jordanian people because of their numbers.
They are being extorted by bad business people. They are trying to blend into the local community but have no means to do so. Apart from Amir, the branch secretary of SCI Jordan, they have few friends amongst the Jordanians. Amir is their hero, has their confidence and they treat him like a brother.
Zaatari camp
We decided to drive to Zaatari camp and from a distance it came into view, a great swathe of white tents spread across the landscape. As we got closer the size of the camp (100.000 people) became very impressive. There seemed to be a mixture of simply built buildings and tents. We came in to the area close to the main road into the camp. I noticed there were lots of people on the road trying to hitch a ride into town. There were also a group of children trying to steal iron from a building site, the police were nearby but didn’t intervene.
Amir pointed to a family packing items into a car and explained they were escaping from Zaatari. I asked him how did he mean escaping? He said, people were climbing over the fence and escaping because they were disturbed by poor camp conditions. Bad water, no beds, poor sanitation, prostitution and violence were not uncommon on the camp. I have to admit, the man at the car looked around as we passed by him and he looked petrified with fear.
We went to the gates and a Jordanian guard told us we could not enter, he also told us we could not take photographs. We turned around in the car and headed back to the main road.
Back at the main road Amir stopped to give a ride to a family. They had just a few bags and as Amir drove he asked them questions. They had decided to leave because of the problems on camp. Stories were being told of the trafficking of young women to highest bidders in Saudi for quick marriages. Old men were paying a fee to marry women thirty, forty. fifty or even sixty years younger than themselves and claiming they were helping the family. Many marriages have been annulled because the man just wanted to take the woman’s virginity. The family in the car had a teenage daughter and were desperate to be away from the camp. Teenagers as young as Fourteen were being sold.”
Peter Pollard?s visit to Jordan has provided us with some first hand insights on the situation of the Syrian refugees in Jordan and of the work of our Jordan branch. SCI will use the information to prepare for a Pathfinder mission which is to take place later this month. The people going on this mission will report about concrete options for SCI to set up a project in Jordan with the aim of supporting the refugees and providing aid through volunteering. Two of the participants in the mission are volunteers in active volunteers in CVS – Bulgaria. We will keep you informed through our website.
