Bitter memories, little hope for
Syrian refugees By Erin Banco
and Sophia Jones
MAFRAQ, Jordan - As the
rate of defections increases and the battle
intensifies in Aleppo, leading international
powers are preparing for a new reality in Syria,
one that will determine their political survival
globally. But civilians who find themselves at the
entrance of Jordan's Zaatri refugee camp are
dealing with a reality disconnected entirely from
the fighting they fled just days ago.
While Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
solidified the country's alliance with Iran in a
meeting on Tuesday in Damascus, representatives of
the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) rushed to break up a skirmish outside the
registration tent. Although most refugees in the
camp say their alliances lie with the Free Syrian
Army (FSA) and support the
mission, their immediate
concerns are not tied to politics. They worry
about feeding their children and finding a decent
place to go to the bathroom. Barefoot children
walk on the hot gravel road and others wear face
masks or scarves to cover their faces from the
harsh, sandy winds.
Noor, a seven-year-old
girl living in the camp with her family, crossed
the border into Jordan nine days ago. She sat with
her mother, father and brothers in a tent on the
furthest end of the site, her skin matted with
thick dust from the frequent sandstorms that pass
through the camp. Her mother said that before they
left Syria, her school was bombed by Assad's
forces. Her teachers scrambled to remove the
children from the building, but during the chaos,
Noor was taken by government soldiers. As we spoke
about her kidnapping, Noor smiled meekly, and a
large wet stain began to seep through her dusty
jeans. Her mother handed her new pants. She had
several options.
"I like the pink ones.
They make noise when you walk. See? Listen," she
said as she wrinkled the pants through her
fingertips. Humanitarian
crisis Noor's story is one echoed by many
refugees residing in Jordan, both inside and
outside the camp. Because of the bombing in Syria,
many refugees said they were experiencing sleep
deprivation, nightmares and bladder-control
issues, symptoms often associated with
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). But these
conditions, often labeled as less severe than
physical injuries, are virtually untreated within
the camp. There is no psychological counselor
available to speak with those who are suffering.
But PTSD is not the only medical condition
that is difficult to treat in the camp. Several
refugees said that they suffered from diabetes,
but had nowhere to refrigerate their insulin.
According to recent UN figures, more than
142,000 refugees have fled to Jordan since the
conflict broke out in Syrian last year, but only
37,000 have registered as asylum seekers.
Kamel Deriche, deputy representative for
UNHCR Jordan, said the new camp in Mafraq held
more than 3,500 people - about 3% of the total
number of refugees known to be residing in the
country. But the camp has the capacity of holding
25,000 people. Bulldozers in a dusty adjacent
field are making room for the possible waves of
new refugees should the conflict in Syria
escalate. Despite the relatively small number of
refugees living in the camp, UNHCR and other local
charity organizations are already experiencing
logistical problems, most of them as a result of
limited funds.
Deriche said the regional
response plan was funded at 26% for Jordan, but
that number only satisfied about one-third of the
needs of UNHCR Jordan. The Zaatri refugee camp,
which opened officially last week, was not part of
the initial response plan and the group has
requested to double the figure to provide for the
refugees better.
The camp "is one of the
worst places I have seen in my humanitarian life",
Deriche said. "There is heat, severe dust,
windstorms and sandstorms, and this is just the
beginning of the tragedy."
The politics
that come hand in hand with international
donations have weighed heavily on aid efforts.
Unlike FSA officials and defectors in Jordan,
refugee families in the Zaatri camp are not
demanding international military intervention in
Syria, but rather, refugee aid for asylum seekers
like themselves.
"We didn't come here to
commit suicide, we came here to flee the
violence," Noor's mother said.
The UNHCR
is asking for outside donations to aid in the
establishment and operation of Zaatri camp, as
well as other refugee programs in Jordan. Deriche
stressed the crucial role the Gulf countries may
play in the coming months, noting the Saudi king's
national fundraising campaign, which reaped more
than US$100 million in just a few days.
Communication gap Although the
conflict in Syria dominates media and political
discourse, refugees inside the Zaatri camp are
left with few ways of following the situation in
their home country.
"Do you know where
Assad is? He is dead," one woman said as she
waited in line to meet with UN registration
officials.
But on Tuesday, Assad's meeting
with Saeed Jalil, secretary of Iran's Supreme
National Security Council, made international
headlines, as it was the Syrian president's first
television appearance in more than two weeks. Many
refugees in the camp were not informed of the
development.
The camp has no Internet and
limited electricity. Walking down a path on the
perimeter of the camp, an adolescent boy followed
us and asked if we could charge his phone. Within
Syria, war is raging not only on the ground, but
also in cyberspace. Both sides of the conflict are
using the Web to spread false information to
weaken each other.
The information and
communication gaps among refugees in Jordan may
create a problem once they return home. Syria will
have to rebuild itself based on unverified
information and conspiracy theories.
Yet
despite their disconnect from the situation just
over the border, political and religious slogans
mark many of the white UNHCR tents dotting Zaatri,
one reading: "We will have our victory, or we will
die."
Erin Banco is a freelance
journalist based in Cairo. Follow her on
Twitter @ErinBanco. Sophia Jones is a
Ramallah-based freelance journalist and Overseas
Press Club fellow. Follow her on Twitter
@sophia_mjones.
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