Jordan's Za'atari refugee camp turns three, challenges for the future of thousands living there

News Stories, 28 July 2015

© UNHCR/C. Herwig
View over Za'atari Refugee Camp in Jordan housing over 80,000 Syrian Refugees. This Wednesday marks three years since it was set up.

GENEVA, July 28 (UNHCR) As Jordan's Za'atari camp the largest refugee camp in the Middle East prepared to mark its third anniversary, the UN refugee agency revealed on Tuesday (July 28) an increase in the number of refugees seeking shelter in camps across the rest of the country.

UNHCR said that living conditions for more than half a million refugees living outside of camps in the country had become increasingly tough, swelling the population of other camps. The latest survey showed 86 per cent of urban refugees live below the Jordanian poverty line of 68 JOD (approx. US$95) per capita per month.

"With Za'atari at capacity, the number of urban refugees seeking shelter in Jordan's second camp, Azraq, increased fourfold in the first six months of this year," UNHCR spokesperson Ariane Rummery told a press briefing in Geneva.

In the first half of 2015, 3,658 people returned to Azraq from urban areas, compared to just 738 in the second half of 2014.

This trend is driven by increasing vulnerability of urban refugees in Jordan whose savings are depleted after years in exile, and who are unable to find secure legal livelihoods. Those living in Amman, in particular, are trying to survive in one of the most expensive cities in the Middle East.

Most have already seen the value of their monthly WFP food vouchers being cut in recent months and now face the prospect of losing them entirely from next month.

Za'atari camp is the largest refugee camp in the Middle East, with around 81,000 Syrian residents. The temporary settlement was established on 29 July 2012 amid huge inflows of refugees from Syria.

The camp was set up in nine days, and has grown in large stages since. Initially there were problems with electricity for lighting and for refugees to charge their mobile phones the sole means by which they could keep in touch with families back in Syria and elsewhere.

Lines of tents that housed the first refugees to arrive in Za'atari have now been replaced by prefabricated shelters. More than half the population are children, presenting challenges not just on how to provide schooling and restore abruptly halted educations in Syria, but also in investing for the future. One in every three children is not attending school.

There are also some 9,500 young people in the camp aged between 19-24 who need skills training and, like their older counterparts, also need livelihood opportunities. Some 5.2 per cent of these were at university in Syria but had to drop out due to the conflict, while just 1.6 per cent successfully graduated.

"More opportunities must be found for this generation, and the millions of other refugees around the region in similar predicaments," said Rummery. "They are the future of Syria."

In all, more than 4,015,000 refugees are registered in the region neighbouring Syria, including some 629,000 in Jordan.

• DONATE NOW •

 

• GET INVOLVED • • STAY INFORMED •

UNHCR country pages

UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie meets Iraqi refugees in Syria

UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie returned to the Syrian capital Damascus on 2 October, 2009 to meet Iraqi refugees two years after her last visit. The award-winning American actress, accompanied by her partner Brad Pitt, took the opportunity to urge the international community not to forget the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees who remain in exile despite a relative improvement in the security situation in their homeland. Jolie said most Iraqi refugees cannot return to Iraq in view of the severe trauma they experienced there, the uncertainty linked to the coming Iraqi elections, the security issues and the lack of basic services. They will need continued support from the international community, she said. The Goodwill Ambassador visited the homes of two vulnerable Iraqi families in the Jaramana district of southern Damascus. She was particularly moved during a meeting with a woman from a religious minority who told Jolie how she was physically abused and her son tortured after being abducted earlier this year in Iraq and held for days. They decided to flee to Syria, which has been a generous host to refugees.

UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie meets Iraqi refugees in Syria

Syrian Refugees in Lebanon

As world concern grows over the plight of hundreds of thousands of displaced Syrians, including more than 200,000 refugees, UNHCR staff are working around the clock to provide vital assistance in neighbouring countries. At the political level, UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres was due on Thursday (August 30) to address a closed UN Security Council session on Syria.

Large numbers have crossed into Lebanon to escape the violence in Syria. By the end of August, more than 53,000 Syrians across Lebanon had registered or received appointments to be registered. UNHCR's operations for Syrian refugees in Tripoli and the Bekaa Valley resumed on August 28 after being briefly suspended due to insecurity.

Many of the refugees are staying with host families in some of the poorest areas of Lebanon or in public buildings, including schools. This is a concern as the school year starts soon. UNHCR is urgently looking for alternative shelter. The majority of the people looking for safety in Lebanon are from Homs, Aleppo and Daraa and more than half are aged under 18. As the conflict in Syria continues, the situation of the displaced Syrians in Lebanon remains precarious.

Syrian Refugees in Lebanon

Turkish Camps Provide Shelter to 90,000 Syrian Refugees

By mid-September, more than 200,000 Syrian refugees had crossed the border into Turkey. UNHCR estimates that half of them are children, and many have seen their homes destroyed in the conflict before fleeing to the border and safety.

The Turkish authorities have responded by building well-organized refugee camps along southern Turkey's border with Syria. These have assisted 120,000 refugees since the crisis conflict erupted in Syria. There are currently 12 camps hosting 90,000 refugees, while four more are under construction. The government has spent approximately US$300 million to date, and it continues to manage the camps and provide food and medical services.

The UN refugee agency has provided the Turkish government with tents, blankets and kitchen sets for distribution to the refugees. UNHCR also provides advice and guidelines, while staff from the organization monitor voluntary repatriation of refugees.

Most of the refugees crossing into Turkey come from areas of northern Syria, including the city of Aleppo. Some initially stayed in schools or other public buildings, but they have since been moved into the camps, where families live in tents or container homes and all basic services are available.

Turkish Camps Provide Shelter to 90,000 Syrian Refugees

Za'atari oldest manPlay video

Za'atari oldest man

At 113, Yousef is a very old man. Until conflict forced him to flee Syria two years ago, his life was spent peacefully with his farm, his shop, his three children and 160 descendants nearby. Now, he is perhaps the oldest resident of Za'aatri refugee camp in Jordan. "He was sad when we told him we wanted to leave," says his daughter Nejmeh. "He tells me he wants to go back to Syria…He made me promise, if he dies, to bury him in Syria."
United Kingdom: High Commissioner calls for more funding for Syrian Refugees
Play video

United Kingdom: High Commissioner calls for more funding for Syrian Refugees

Speaking at the London Syria Conference, the head of the UN Refugee Agency Filippo Grandi called for a significant increase in pledges to offer much-needed stability, opportunities and hope to Syrian refugees, who are becoming more vulnerable as a brutal war has raged for five years
Lebanon: Newborn Boy Spends First Winter In A WarehousePlay video

Lebanon: Newborn Boy Spends First Winter In A Warehouse

Just ten days old, Syrian infant Mohammed is already experiencing the harshness of refugee life. Living with his family in a warehouse without furniture, natural light or permanent heat, he is already battling his first cold.