Jordan, 10 km from Mafraq in the north of the country, on the border with Syria and 70 km from the Jordanian capital Amman. The Zaatari refugee camp, since its opening on 28 July 2012, has become the largest refugee camp in the world. It was set up by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the head of the camp is the Armenian Hovig Etyemezian, son of refugees and a UN refugee agency worker.
The camp covers 13 square km and is divided into 12 districts, surrounded by barbed wire, and guarded by police and military. Given its location, it was created with the aim of housing Syrians fleeing the violence of the Syrian civil war, which broke out in March 2011. The initial capacity was 60,000 people but given the numbers of refugees the camp had reached, in March 2013, a second camp was built 20 km away on the plains of Majeeb Al Fahood.
At the time of the opening, the number of displaced people was 15,000, representing 10% of the total number of all Syrian refugees in Jordan. In 2013, there were 25,000 residences, covering 5 square kilometres. The last census of the number of inhabitants in the camp dates back to 30 September according to UNHCR data, which declared 80,007 refugees. However, the exact and accurate count stopped in March 2013 due to massive arrivals and high daily movements of people. Testimony from UNICEF workers dating back to 2015, in contact with the Jordanian army at the entrance to the camp, speaks of 2,000 to 5,000 refugees entering per day.
A UNHCR report from last January shows in more detail the numbers in Zaatari, whose refugees at the time numbered 76,143. Twenty per cent of these were children under the age of five. Among them, a puzzling fact is the lack of any citizenship for the children born inside the camp. They are neither Syrians nor Jordanians, as they cannot be registered in any office. There were 13,220 refugees with work permits, 20% of whom were women. As for the origins of these people, 14% came from rural Damascus, 80% from smaller towns in Syria and the rest from Homs (2%), Dar’a (2%) and Damascus city (2%).
There are 45 international organisations that intervene, periodically or on a daily basis, and try to make life less inhuman for the inhabitants of Zaatari. There are even more aspects to be dealt with, from the management of water and sanitation systems to the provision of basic necessities and educational support. For example, in terms of medical assistance alone, there are 16 organisations, international and local, including Jordan Health Aid Society International, Jordan Red Crescent and Doctors Without Borders.
A first obstacle is how to reach the Zaatari camp. Initially, Syrians crossed the border and arrived at the camp by a relatively easy route. However, once the Syrian rebels occupied the areas close to the border with Jordan, movement to the camp took place mostly during the day, given the increased controls at night. In order to enter and leave the camp, a government permit is needed, which is not easy to obtain, forcing most to stay in the camp for the entire duration of their stay. Moreover, there are only two entrances for the almost 80,000 people.
A city echoing in the silence of the desert.
From the satellite images taken, it is surprising how the camp has taken on the appearance of a city: there are supermarkets, bakeries, schools, gyms, hospitals, places of worship, shower areas and playgrounds for the little ones. The few moments of leisure are those seen among the children in the schools, where the children meticulously keep the educational materials clean and tidy – as one witness tells us. There are nine schools and they all work a double shift, with girls in the morning and boys in the afternoon. Despite the projects of the schools, for which UNICEF is the spokesperson, many children prefer to wait until they return to Syria. Some, alternatively, play on the computers provided by the NGOs or start working directly.
Moreover, it could be comparable to a city because of the surprising number of small economies that have sprung up and developed. The resilience of the Zaatari people has led to the creation of real businesses over the years. In fact, there is a vast market with stalls made of metal sheets where they sell roast chicken, ice cream, portable washing machines, used clothes or even drinks such as hot tea for 15 cents. The increasing number of arrivals of refugees has given way to new initiatives such as falafel stalls or barber shops. Schools run by Unicef provide another means of earning a living for refugees who teach there or do odd jobs cleaning toilets.
In winter, there are unheated tents and freezing rooms; in summer, the temperature can reach 42 degrees, making the tents into living ovens. According to UNHCR, 86% of them live below the Jordanian poverty line of $95 per capita per month. The greatest comfort for the Zaatari refugees is the roulette tents, whose largest size can be up to 200 square metres, equipped with windows and doors. No concrete buildings are ever encountered as the government has banned the use of such material, as well as the possibility of planting trees or creating pavements.
Because of the size of the camp, travelling is complicated and it can take all day to reach the hospital. Fortunately, a few years ago the market for bicycles began, making life easier for many, while at the same time contributing to the local economies of those who made themselves available for repairs and scrap. “Necessity is the mother of invention,’ says one refugee during an interview with the BBC. The man is disabled and was forced to build a motorised vehicle to move around the camp.
War wipes out lives but has no power over love. Indeed, among Zaatari’s various entrepreneurial activities, a young woman has opened a shop selling ceremonial clothes. Weddings are celebrated in the various places of worship as in a real city.
One technique, which is quite objectionable, is the registration of refugees, implemented by the Jordanian government, privates and in cooperation with the 45 organisations active in the field. The system involves scanning the person’s iris, which is then saved in a database in an anonymous form, in the form of a code. This system is also used as a form of payment, based on the blockchain and named building blocks, invented by former banker Houman Haddad. Money transactions are authorised with the eyes, based on the data stored. In addition, it is possible to include within each blockchain profile the different needs of the person and the collaboration of the various NGOs in the field, thus having a rather extensive circulation of refugee data.
A case so striking in the international scenario that American filmmakers Zach Ingrasci and Chris Temple, after living in Zaatari for a month, in 2015, created the documentary Salam Neighbor, which received the 2016 Media Award Honoring Voices of Courage & Conscience.
In conclusion, the only option currently facing the inhabitants of Zaatari is one: to return to Syria, excluding of course the illegal routes out of the country but whose risks are perhaps higher and more deadly. One of the daily activities is in fact going to the Jordanian government offices to obtain 15-day permits to leave the camp. However, we are seeing more and more people preferring to return to the war, hence to Syria, rather than live in the conditions they are forced to live in in Zaatari or travel to Europe. Every day, according to UNHCR, about 120 people decide to return to Syria and 120,000 have done so since the Zaatari camp was set up.
A very thought-provoking element is that, among the various actors coordinating the Zaatari camp, there are also Syrian public institutions and ministries, as well as the international organisations mentioned above, subsidised by world powers such as the United States and Japan.
The few testimonies found on the web, collected in this article, need no comment. They make dramatically real the inhuman conditions of all those who, for more or less short periods, are forced to live in Zaatari. Once again, the prototype of the refugee that is transmitted to the West turns out to be false. The refugees of Zaatari are people who lead a life of work, study, play, as well as leisure and cultural activities. Unfortunately, the reality in which they were living forced them to flee and take refuge in this new territory, waiting to be able to return to their former life and have the right to live.
Large Movements appeals to the international community and to all those who contribute daily to the survival of this camp that, while the support they give is essential, the creation of legal humanitarian corridors and migration policies aimed at regularising the situation of the thousands of Zaatari inhabitants would perhaps be the most appropriate and humane solution.
https://gaz.wiki/wiki/it/Zaatari_refugee_camp
https://widerimage.reuters.com/story/life-in-jordans-zaatari-camp
https://data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/syria/location/53
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/10/24/syrians-at-zaatari-camp-we-cant-live-here-forever/
