New camp due to open in Jordan as numbers continue to rise

Briefing Notes, 25 January 2013

This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Melissa Fleming – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 25 January 2013, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

Jordan has experienced a record number of refugees crossing, with over 30,000 arriving in Za'atri camp since the beginning of the year. This compares to 16,413 in December, 13,000 in November, and 10,000 in October.

Yesterday over 4400 Syrian refugees arrived in Za'atri camp. A further 2000 arrived during the course of the night.

Many originate from Dara'a and its suburbs, along with Al-Yadoudeh, Al-Harak, Enkhel, Allajah, Ataman, Dael, Busr Al-Hareer, Al-Shajarah and Sayda. They are mainly families, female-headed households, and elderly people. Refugees report generalised and targeted violence, property loss, lack of medical treatment with facilities closed, high price and low availability of food and fuel as combined reasons for their flight. Many report that water and electricity are only available for intermittent periods in parts of southern Syria.

UNHCR is working with the Government of Jordan and partners to prepare a second major camp close to Za'atri, which will be known as Halabat camp. We hope to open it by the end of the month. Up to five thousand people will be accommodated initially in the camp, with a plan to increase the capacity to 30,000 people.

Staff at Za'atri are working day and night to respond to the new arrivals and the growing needs of the refugees in the camp. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of tents are being delivered by truck to the warehouses in Za'atri. Yesterday 31 trucks delivered tents and essential relief items during the course of the day, with hundreds of deliveries planned in the coming days. UNHCR and partners are also increasing the staffing in the camp to cope with the high rate of new arrivals. We estimate that the population of Za'atri currently stands at over 65,000 people.

In the past month, between seven and ten babies were born each day in the camp. Every day, families arrive at Za'atri with very young babies. It is with great sadness that we report the death of three refugee children this week. A two-year old infant and two-month old baby died shortly after arriving at the camp. Investigations are underway to determine the cause of death. The third death was that of a two-day old baby who died following an emergency delivery due to the mother suffering pre-eclampsia.

To respond to the medical needs of refugees, there are three hospitals, two intermediary health facilities, four primary healthcare facilities, with approximately 51 specialists and 70 nurses in place at Za'atri. All facilities have general practitioners and paramedics on site. There are several agencies and national and international NGOs with programmes supporting the health care system in the camp.

In addition to the daily new arrivals at Za'atri who are registered in the camp, in Amman UNHCR staff are registering up to 1,400 people a day. We hope to register over 50,000 refugees in urban settings by the end of February. A new registration centre in Irbid will open soon, further increasing our registration capacity.

Increased registration and outreach is resulting in more vulnerable families being identified. UNHCR and International Relief and Development have conducted over 11,000 home visits across Jordan since April 2012. This month 7,700 Syrian families received cash assistance in Jordan. These funds helped them pay rent, buy food, pay for heating fuel and essential items for their families. UNHCR is grateful for the strong financial support it has received so far and will continue to count on more support to offer urgently needed assistance to vulnerable families. This underlines the urgency of funds being given swiftly, so that all vulnerable families receive prompt assistance.

To date UNHCR has registered, or issued appointments to register to 206,630 Syrians in Jordan. According to the Government of Jordan there are over 300,000 Syrian refugees in the country.

For further information on this topic, please contact:

  • In Abu Dhabi: Mohammed Abu Asaker (Regional Spokesman, Arabic) on mobile + 971 50 621 3552
  • In Amman: Tala Kattan on mobile: +962 79 978 3186
  • Ali Bibi on mobile: +962 7777 11118
  • In Beirut: Dana Sleiman on mobile: +961 3827 323
  • In Geneva: Adrian Edwards on mobile: +41 79 557 9120
  • Sybella Wilkes on mobile +41 79 557 9138
• DONATE NOW •

 

• GET INVOLVED • • STAY INFORMED •

Related Stories

more documents

UNHCR country pages

Syria Emergency: Urgent Appeal

You can help save the lives of thousands of refugees

Donate to this crisis

UNHCR Syria Fact Sheet

1 In A Million

Erbil's Children: Syrian Refugees in Urban Iraq

Some of the most vulnerable Syrian refugees are children who have sought shelter in urban areas with their families. Unlike those in camps, refugees living in towns and cities in countries like Iraq, Turkey and Jordan often find it difficult to gain access to aid and protection. In a refugee camp, it is easier for humanitarian aid organizations such as UNHCR to provide shelter and regular assistance, including food, health care and education. Finding refugees in urban areas, let alone helping them, is no easy task.

In Iraq, about 100,000 of the 143,000 Syrian refugees are believed to be living in urban areas - some 40 per cent of them are children aged under 18 years. The following photographs, taken in the northern city of Erbil by Brian Sokol, give a glimpse into the lives of some of these young urban refugees. They show the harshness of daily life as well as the resilience, adaptability and spirit of young people whose lives have been overturned in the past two years.

Life is difficult in Erbil, capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The cost of living is high and it is difficult to find work. The refugees must also spend a large part of their limited resources on rent. UNHCR and its partners, including the Kurdish Regional Government, struggle to help the needy.

Erbil's Children: Syrian Refugees in Urban Iraq

From Paris With Love, Toys for Syrian Children

Every year, the Quai Branly Museum in Paris organizes a collection of toys from schoolchildren in Paris and, with a little help from UNHCR and other key partners, sends them to refugee children who have lost so much.

The beneficiaries this year were scores of Syrian children living in two camps in Turkey, one of the major host countries for the more than 1.4 million Syrians who have fled their country with or without their families. Most of these traumatized young people have lost their own belongings in the rubble of Syria.

Last week, staff from the museum, UNHCR and the Fédération des Associations d'Anciens du Scoutisme gathered up the toys and packed them into 60 boxes. They were then flown to Turkey by Aviation Sans Frontières (Aviation without Borders) and taken to the kindergarten and nursery schools in Nizip-1 and Nizip-2 camps near the city of Gaziantep.

A gift from more fortunate children in the French capital, the toys brought a ray of sunshine into the lives of some young Syrian refugees and reminded them that their peers in the outside world do care.

These images of the toy distribution were taken by photographer Aytac Akad and UNHCR's Selin Unal.

From Paris With Love, Toys for Syrian Children

Flight by Night: Syrian Refugees Risk the Crossing to Jordan in the Dark

Every night, hundreds of refugees flee from Syria via dozens of unofficial border crossing points and seek shelter in neighbouring Jordan. Many feel safer crossing in the dark, but it remains a risky journey by day or night. They arrive exhausted, scared and traumatized, but happy to be in the welcoming embrace of Jordan and away from the conflict in their country. Some arrive with bad injuries, many carry belongings. A large proportion are women and children. Observers at the border at night see these eerie silhouettes approaching out of the dark. Earlier this week, UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres was among these observers. He and his UNHCR colleagues were moved by what they saw and heard at the border and earlier in Za'atri refugee camp, where arrivals are taken by the Jordanian military. The majority of the Syrian refugees move to Jordan's cities, towns and villages. Guterres has urged donors to set up special funds for the Syria crisis, warning of disaster if more humanitarian funding is not forthcoming soon. Photographer Jared Kohler was at the border when Guterres visited. These are his images.

Flight by Night: Syrian Refugees Risk the Crossing to Jordan in the Dark

Greece: Syrian Refugees StrugglePlay video

Greece: Syrian Refugees Struggle

As Syrian refugees escape conflict and seek refuge in Greece, they face major new challenges.
Iraq: A Home for a Syrian FamilyPlay video

Iraq: A Home for a Syrian Family

Kava and his family arrive at Domiz camp in northern Iraq, traumatized by the conflict in Syria. With the help of UNHCR and its partners, his family has found shelter and a glimmer of hope.
Greece: A Way into EuropePlay video

Greece: A Way into Europe

Desperate Syrian refugees take deadly risks to get to Europe.