hmefoundation

In Syria’s south, fears of a new humanitarian crisis

Originally published Tuesday, July 23, 2013 at 7:42 PM

Relief officials warned Tuesday of a brewing humanitarian crisis in southern Syria as rising violence reportedly continued to strand thousands of would-be refugees along the border with Jordan.

By Taylor Luck
The Washington Post

Mohammad Hannon / The Associated Press

Young Syrian refugees fill up their water jugs at Zaatari refugee camp, near the Syrian border, in Mafraq, Jordan, on Tuesday. Zaatari is home to about 120,000 Syrians who fled the nearly three-year civil war still gripping the nation.

AMMAN, Jordan — Relief officials warned Tuesday of a brewing humanitarian crisis in southern Syria as rising violence reportedly continued to strand thousands of would-be refugees along the border with Jordan.

According to rebel officials and local residents, an intensified government-bombing campaign is obstructing roads and paths in the region, where 10,000 displaced people are said to have spent the past week in border towns and villages waiting to cross into Jordan.

The U.N. refugee agency says the escalating violence has slowed the flow of refugees into Jordan from a high of about 2,000 a day to an average of 100 a day in recent days, prompting concerns about a massive buildup on the Syrian side.

“Every indicator inside Syria shows that the numbers of refugees should be increasing, but we are seeing the lowest figures in months,” said Andrew Harper, the agency’s representative in Jordan.

Activists and Syrian rebel officials also accuse Jordan of exacerbating the crisis by changing its open-border policy.

With more than 560,000 Syrians flooding into the country over the past two years, they say, Jordanian authorities have begun closing illegal crossings, citing concerns about potential infiltration by jihadists, as well as Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters.

Others say Jordan is seeking to curb the refugee influx because its ballooning Syrian community is already expected to cost it more than $1 billion this year and has led to overcrowding in schools and hospitals.

In recent weeks, Jordanian officials have stressed the growing social and economic strains posed by the refugee community.

Before the recent drop in numbers, Jordan was taking in about 70,000 Syrians a month, a pace that U.N. officials say required the opening of a new refugee camp every 30 days.

But the greatest impact, according to Jordanian officials, has been felt outside the camps and in the towns and villages where 70 percent of the refugees reside.

After a 16 percent jump in the demand for water — which increased the water deficit in arid Jordan by 50 percent — and a 20 percent jump in electricity demand, Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour recently declared northern Jordan a humanitarian “disaster zone.”

“We have been told directly and indirectly that the days of an open border are over,” said Ahmed al-Naimi, a Free Syrian Army commander who coordinates the rebel group’s refugee-crossing operations and claims that only about 10 percent of those seeking to cross into Jordan in the past month have succeeded.

“Unless a Syrian carries with him unfalsifiable proof of identity, he will be classified as a security threat and denied entry,” Naimi said.

Activists say dozens of local communities in Syria’s southern border areas are struggling to accommodate the would-be refugees, housing hundreds of families in schools, mosques and grocery stores even as they endure a two-week-long siege by government forces.

As a result of the siege, many Syrian border towns and villages face dwindling supplies of basic foodstuffs such as cooking oil and flour, according to residents and activists reached by phone. They warned that the sudden influx of displaced people has pushed thousands to the brink of starvation.

“We are trying to host our brothers and sisters from across Syria with dignity and respect,” said Ahmed al-Saad, a coordinator with the Local Coordination Committees, an activist network, in the border town of Tal Shihab. “But how can we feed hundreds of new families each day when we can barely feed ourselves?”

Emad al-Homsawi said he and his family of five spent nearly two weeks avoiding government checkpoints and dodging missiles while fleeing their native Homs, in central Syria.

“Now we can neither return to Homs nor continue to Jordan,” Homsawi said, speaking from a Tal Shihab bakery where his family and 20 other displaced Syrians are sheltering. “We have gone from refugees to prisoners.”

The crossing delays reportedly have proved fatal for dozens of people whose families had hoped to get them to Jordan for treatment of chronic diseases or war injuries.

Hibba al-Halabi said she could only watch as her brother Ahmed died of an infected shrapnel wound in the border village of al-Shajarah while waiting to cross Monday — an injury that she says could have been easily treated in Jordan.

Meanwhile, U.N. refugee officials say, the blockade has forced hundreds of other Syrians into braving more-arduous eastern routes into Jordan, trekking through the desert with little food or water.

Nevertheless, Syrians say, the threats of border closures and violence will do little to slow the mass exodus in which 1.8 million people have fled their homeland for neighboring states.

“We Syrians have been left with two options,” Homsawi said.

“Flee or die.”

SYRIA: A HIGHER PRIORITY!

Within the past year, hundreds of volunteer Hope for the Middle East Foundation humanitarian heroes have directly supported over 20,000 displaced in and around Syria.

With your generous gifts we have delivered $10,000 in direct aid to tens of thousands of Syria’s beleaguered and afflicted.

We have also provided food and winter aid to Syria’s innocent women and children who have suffered tremendously due to their country’s current situation. We aim to reach an additional 40,000 more Syrian families through this year. Help us help them with your generous donation:

•     $200 aids a family for a month
•     $100 helps a widow care for her children
•     $120 provides monthly food essentials for a family
•     $50 sustains an orphan who has lost everything
•     $25 gives a traumatized child a gift

Please help with whatever you can. Your gift goes straight to Syria’s orphaned, widowed, homeless, sick, and injured individuals.

At least 96¢ out of every dollar you give reaches a Syrian victim. We reach almost every major Syrian city and suburbs, as well as the refugees in Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon. PGive a gift to help the desperate with shelter, food, water, and medicine.

OVER 10 MILLION SYRIANS IN NEED BY END OF 2013

Even after more than two years, the Syrian conflict continues, and as it does so, the humanitarian crisis in Syria escalates. Millions have been displaced into neighboring countries without proper provision, women have been widowed and are left powerless in the middle-east, children have been orphaned, families have been left without homes, and thousands upon thousands, killed.

Even after more than two years, the Syrian conflict continues, and as it does so, the humanitarian crisis in Syria escalates. Millions have been displaced into neighboring countries without proper provision, women have been widowed and are left powerless in the middle-east, children have been orphaned, families have been left without homes, and thousands upon thousands, killed.

The number of refugees since the start of the revolution currently numbers at more than 1.5 million and the UN expects this number to leap to nearly 3.5 million by the end of 2013. More than half of these refugees are estimated to be children. Between January and April of this year alone, the number of refugees more than doubled. The number of refugees recorded has gone from 3,000 on average each day in December to 8,000 daily in February, Antonio Guterres, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees, said in Ankara, Turkey. This number does not take into account the many Syrians that flee without registering as Syrian refugees for fear of persecution upon returning to Syria and in protection of their pride.

According to a CNN report, one boy said there were men in the cities, but most families were fleeing. “You can now count the people left on your fingers,” He said. “Syria is emptying.”

Although some Syrians settle in cities eager to find work, most Syrians hope to find refuge in large refugee camps. According to numerous accounts so far, some of these refugee camps prove to be unsafe for many. Reports detail the starvation, the lack of supplies and electricity, the harassment that women (usually widowed or orphaned) face in camps, and the shortage of medical personnel.

In addition to this, Syria’s infrastructure has suffered tremendously as the UN estimates it will take at least $60 billion to rebuild. As of May, over half a million homes have been damaged or otherwise demolished, and this number continues to grow.

The Syrian people, both in and out of Syria, are desperate for aid, now more than ever. The UN estimates that four million children are currently in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. In addition, it estimates that more than 10 million Syrians (close to 50% of the Syrian population) will be in need of immediate help by the end of 2013.

The impact of this devastation is also manifesting in the sadness of the loved ones of the more than 90,000 who have thus far been killed.

Humanitarian organizations urge the contribution of governmental and non-governmental agencies as well as individual donors in order to help the people affected by this crisis.