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Hunger in Jordan

Hunger in JordanJordan, home to Za’atari refugee camp, is facing a resource crisis. In an already resource-poor, food-deficient country, the influx of Syrian refugees, accounting for almost ten percent of Jordan’s population has added great pressure to the economy. Consequently, one of the biggest problems facing Jordan today is finding a way to feed its swelling population.

With a hike of around 20 percent in food prices, 2016 has plunged many Jordanians into a state of food insecurity. The alarming unemployment rate of 13.6 percent amplifies the problem as fewer people are able to buy the increasingly expensive food. Fortunately, NGOs and international organizations have been markedly proactive in their efforts to assist the food insecure.

On the local level, perhaps the most significant strides towards alleviating hunger in Jordan have been made by the Jordanian Food Bank (JFB) established in 2010. The non-profit has launched multiple projects such as the “Awareness for Hotels and Restaurants” campaign which collects unused food from Jordanian hotels, events, restaurants and others and donates it to families in need. It has also signed an agreement with the Jordanian Austrian Company to combat hunger and assist underprivileged families in local communities. Under the agreement, the Jordanian Austrian Company will provide 25 underprivileged families with food packages every month and half a ton of rice in support of various JFB programs.

Another local organization, Family Kitchen, works on a similar model, collecting uneaten food from hotels and bakeries and distributing them among the food insecure in Amman. Even individuals and groups at the grassroots level are playing their part by introducing initiatives such as Kulluna Ahl, a food bank run by Amman’s municipality and Izwati sandwich shop providing free sandwiches to the poor.

The drive of local organizations in helping the victims of food insecurity prosper is both admirable and necessary. However, factoring in the needs of Syrian refugees, local initiatives simply aren’t enough to combat the entirety of hunger, thirst and deprivation in Jordan. As a result, international organizations have stepped in to fortify existing efforts.

The World Food Programme (WFP) is the biggest organization involved in alleviating hunger in Jordan. WFP launched an 18-month assistance program in 2013 to assist 160,000 vulnerable Jordanians affected by the extended economic crisis through cash and food transfers. It is also helping the Jordanian government with implementing a national school meals program to reach up to 320,000 school children in the most vulnerable and food insecure areas. In addition, it is providing food assistance to over 560,000 Syrian refugees in Jordan through electronic and paper vouchers.

International NGOs like Action Against Hunger are also having a huge impact on combatting hunger in Jordan. In 2015 alone, the organization helped 43,906 people in Jordan by providing them with nutritional support, safe water, sanitation and in some cases, enabling them to achieve economic self-sufficiency. The efforts of global organizations like this are vital to the protection of people in vulnerable situations. You can help facilitate their work by donating to Action Against Hunger here.

– Mallika Khanna

Photo: Flickr

Where are the Palestinian Refugee Camps?

Where are the Palestinian Refugees Camps?
The 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict marked the beginning of a long journey for Palestinians. During the war, approximately 700,000 Palestinians fled their homes in what is now Israel and the Occupied Palestinian territories and became refugees. Following the 1948 war, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) was established by the U.N. General Assembly to provide relief and works programs for Palestinian refugees.

The UNRWA defines Palestinian refugees as “persons whose normal place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948, and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict.” The definition was later expanded to include all descendants of male Palestinian refugees, including adopted children. Consequently, 68 years after the 1948 war and subsequent conflicts and uprisings, the number of Palestinian refugees has ballooned from 700,000 to roughly 5 million.

Most of the refugees sought asylum in neighboring Arab countries, where temporary camps were established and have since become permanent settlements. Nearly one-third, or 1.6 million, of Palestinian refugees live in 58 camps in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. The remaining two-thirds primarily live in or near the cities of host countries and territories, including those internally displaced in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian territories.

Gaza Strip

The Gaza Strip is a tiny enclave on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea bordering Israel and Egypt. The territory has a population of 1.7 million, of which 1.3 million are registered Palestinian refugees. Subject to a blockade on all sides, residents of Gaza have severely restricted freedom of movement, and Gaza is one of the most densely populated places on earth.

Continuous conflict between Hamas and Israel has also worsened the conditions within the Gaza Strip and has internally displaced thousands since the original 1948 conflict. As a result, 80% of the population is dependent on international assistance, and the eight refugee camps regularly face shortages of food, clean drinking water, medicine and opportunities to lift themselves out of the camps.

West Bank

The West Bank is an Israeli occupied territory located between Israel and Jordan with a population of 2.7 million. There are nearly 775,000 registered refugees living in the territory, mostly living in major towns and rural areas. However, around a quarter of the registered refugees live in 19 camps scattered throughout the territory. Although conditions are generally better than Gaza, refugees living in camps in the West Bank also face squalid living conditions and major freedom of movement restrictions.

Syria

Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict, thousands of Palestinians fled to Syria where they were generally welcomed and treated well. They were granted the same duties and responsibilities as Syrian citizens, other than political rights and nationality. As a result, by 2003 there were over 400,000 Palestinian refugees in Syria living in nine camps and in Syrian cities.

Syria’s ongoing civil war has severely exacerbated the plight of Palestinian refugees in the country, leaving many in besieged or hard to reach areas. Before the conflict began in 2011, UNRWA estimated there were 526,000 registered Palestinian refugees in the country. Today, many of the camps have been deserted or destroyed, and the refugees that remain in Syria continually experience a deterioration of humanitarian conditions. For instance, the Yarmouk Camp, located just outside Damascus and home to roughly 160,000 Palestinian refugees prior to the war, recently experienced fierce clashes between rebel groups, ISIS and the Syrian Army. The fighting left nearly 18,000 refugees without food, water and medical supplies, and resulted in a severe Typhoid outbreak.

Lebanon

Situated on the Mediterranean Sea between Israel and Syria, Lebanon has a population of 6.2 million, of which 450,000 are registered Palestinian refugees. The country is also home to thousands of undocumented and unregistered Palestinians, with estimates ranging from 10,000 to 40,000. Overall, Palestinians are thought to make up 10% of the total Lebanese population.

Around half of all Palestinian refugees in Lebanon reside in 12 refugee camps. Although many of these camps have existed for decades, they routinely suffer from high rates of poverty, unemployment and other issues such as overcrowding and lack of sufficient infrastructure. Those living outside the registered Palestinian refugee camps suffer continued discrimination, are denied basic rights and are even barred from working in certain professions. Consequently, Lebanon has the highest percentage of Palestinian refugees living in abject poverty among all other countries and territories UNRWA operates in.

Jordan

Jordan shares a border with Iraq, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Syria and the West Bank, and has a population of 8.2 million. Jordan is home to the highest number of Palestinian refugees, with 2.1 million registered and thousands more that have fled Palestinian refugee camps in Syria. Palestinians account for approximately a quarter of the total Jordanian population.

Most, but not all, Palestinian refugees have been granted full Jordanian citizenship and have been well integrated into society for decades. However, nearly 370,000 are settled in ten camps throughout the country. An additional 10,000 that have crossed the border from Syria live in camps along the border that have increasingly dire conditions and residents are prohibited from leaving.

Originally forced to flee fighting in the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict, Palestinian refugees have long endured turbulent and unstable conditions since leaving home. Many have fled war only to be met with more violence and conflict in places such as Gaza, Lebanon and Syria. Many are faced with severe human rights violations and are denied freedom of movement, leaving many to be born, live and die in the same place. In addition to these issues, the right of refugees to ultimately return to their homeland remains a major obstacle to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

For now, Palestinians remain part of the harrowing refugee crisis of the 21st century.

-Brendan Hennessey

Photo: Flickr

How Extremism Affects Women in Jordan

Women in JordanThe country of Jordan, a critical American ally, has been mostly ignored while the spotlight has been focused on Syria’s other neighbors, such as Turkey, Iraq and Lebanon. Yet, it has recently been noted that Jordan has taken on the burden of housing as many as 635,000 Syrian refugees, and has struggled with a disturbing rise of extremism. Another issue that has gone unnoticed is the surprising effects of extremism on women in Jordan.

Jordan is the world’s third-largest contributor of ISIS supporters. Research has shown that about 9,000 to 10,000 Jordan citizens are supporters of ISIS or other jihadi groups.

Until recently, young men have been considered the leading targeted group for recruiting extremists and thus have served as the perceived main threat to adjacent moderates and to other countries including the U.S.

In response to a large number of ISIS supporters, Jordan’s government has declared it is going to implement a new plan to fight the threat of radicalization by increasing security measures as well as implementing a project designed to target radical preachers and the young men perceived to be at the highest risk of indoctrination.

However, U.N. Women has published a study that has shown women in Jordan are equally or more affected by radicalization than men. The study shows that women are affected because of women’s lack of public space, the strict gender norms, and the increasing violence against women. These issues often leave women feeling as if they have no sense of belonging, with animosity toward certain political groups and searching for a greater purpose and a greater sense of identity — the main triggers associated with radicalization.

Islamic extremists target women, specifically, so that their children and other family members will already be indoctrinated into the group. Also, women are used as messengers to spread a doctrine across the community and often radicalized women congregate and develop a type of sisterhood.

The causes of radicalization can be reconditioned so that women in Jordan, instead of being victims and perpetrators of extremism, can be allies in the fight against extremism.

In other countries, the report has shown women can serve as monitors for threats of radicalization and help reinforce the status quo within their communities and families. However, this can only be achieved by facilitating the voices of women in Jordan and including these women in the decision-making processes within politics and academia, as well as increasing the opportunities for female imams.

Although Jordan is making efforts to fight the threats of extremism, the effects of this extremism on the women in Jordan need to be addressed. In order to fight extremism, violence and discrimination toward women need to be alleviated. Women have a strong influence over their families and communities; therefore, it essential for them to feel appreciated and feel that their voices are being heard in order for them to feel less inclined to join the extremists. Although women are victims of hate crimes, they are also, surprisingly, powerful influencers of radicalization.

– Kayla Mehl

Photo: Flickr

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Surprising Ways Smartphones are Helping Refugees

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Smartphones can go a long way in helping refugees to stay safe, connected and assimilate into new communities.

According to research conducted by Penn State University, about 86 percent of young Syrian refugees at Zaatari Camp of Jordan own cell phones and more than half access the Internet daily.

During dangerous and long journeys, the luxury of smartphones helps ensure safety by keeping refugees connected with their family members. In addition, something as simple as taking and sharing photos helps to maintain a sense of community.

Navigation applications like Google Maps have also drastically changed the scene by helping refugees to travel without a heavy dependence on guides. When they do need to hire guides, information and reviews on social networking services including Facebook and WhatsApp ensure quality of service and prevent trafficking related crimes.

Some applications specifically target refugees and their needs. Google’s Crisis Info Hub lists travel information for those entering Europe through the island of Lesbos, with hotline Red Cross contacts and lodgings.

Gherbtna (“exile” or “loneliness” in Arabic), developed by Mojahed Akil who is himself a Syrian refugee, provides resettlement advice and guidelines. On the other side of the border, countries accommodating refugees have established similar information services such as Germany’s Refugee Welcome.

Another way that smartphone use is helping refugees is through increased accessibility to educational tools. In a situation where access to a formal education is near impossible, the Internet provides ubiquitous access to educational material.

The Guardian notes that there are “more than 80,000 education apps in Apple’s App Store, ranging from phonics to physics.”

The nonprofit organization Aiim develops education apps for refugees between the ages of 12 and 16 that are available offline, even in areas without Internet connection. The organization hopes to reach 10,000 Syrian refugees  by the end of next year through pilot programs in Jordan and Lebanon.

– Haena Chu

Photo: Flickr

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Wi-Fi ‘Saves’ Residents in Jordan Refugee Camp

Wifi in Zataari Refugee Camp, Jordan, Said to 'Save' ResidentsIn Zaatari, a refugee camp located in a desolate area of the northern Jordan desert, Syrian refugees live in a grid of makeshift tents very similar to the other nearly 1 million Syrians who have set up camp throughout Jordan in the past year.

In stark contrast to surrounding refugee camps in the Jordan Valley, such as the neighboring Azraq camp, however, there is one thing which has served to set Zaatari apart: the Internet.

Zaatari, which is home to 100,000 Syrians, started out as a temporary residence in which residents lived in deplorable conditions and frequently complained about the high rate of crime. In the past year, however, the camp has developed into Jordan’s fourth-largest ‘city,’ which boasts an enviable main street by refugee camp standards and is nicknamed the Champs Elysees. The Champs Elysees, which, unlike the rest of Zaatari, has paved roads and functioning street lamps, is also home to a growing number of bootleg charging stations, where customers can pay to refuel their computers and phones with electricity stolen from the camp’s grid. An increasing number of Zaatari residents have begun to tap into the camp’s Internet, using the Wi-Fi in order to stay in touch with family members spread throughout the region, tap into social media, keep up with world news and news about the countries they fled (via trustworthy sources such as the BBC World Service), and even learn English.

The recent influx of Internet users in Zaatari comes despite the fact that the Wi-Fi connection is incredibly clogged, thanks to the influx of thousands of refugees in recent months, which has put a strain on the region’s already slow electricity grid. Refugees hoping to use the Internet for a variety of purposes have to wait hours while a site buffers, even if they upload it in the middle of the night, according to Talash, one of the camp’s electronics vendors.

The success of the Internet and its ability to brighten the lives of Zaatari residents have inspired the United Nations and internet and communications technology (ICT) experts to explore the idea of making Wi-Fi free, and thus widely accessible, to refugees who have been displaced since the crisis in Syria began: a number which currently stands at 4 million.

According to the U.N., free Wi-Fi could bring educational, personal, and career benefits. Syrian refugees in Jordan, for example, who are prohibited from working by Jordanian law, can use the internet in order to tap into a ‘global marketplace.’ Young Syrian children who have suffered from a lack of educational opportunities in the refugee camps are also able to use the Internet to access free classes, thereby helping to circumvent the possibility that the recent crisis has created a Syrian ‘lost generation.’ Free Wi-Fi also offers the added benefit of enabling humanitarian organizations to communicate directly with residents and dispel rumors in the camp, such as the rumor which circulated last year that refugees were all going to be relocated to the less desirable and incredibly remote Azraq refugee camp.

U.N. and ICT officials have acknowledged that installing free Wi-Fi in Zaatari would be a difficult task, especially given the fact that refugee camps hosting Syrian refugees already bear the burden of frequent funding cuts. However, there is precedent for the use of free Wi-Fi accessible to refugees. The U.N. refugee agency’s (UNHCR) innovation team, for instance, recently released a mobile app for Syrian refugees living in Turkey, designed to explain refugees’ legal rights and point them to the nearest U.N. office. Recently, a highly successful app was also created by two Syrian refugees in Turkey for other refugees in the region. The app, which posts jobs that refugees are eligible for, gives them advice about landlords, explains mystifying rules about various camps and has already accrued 11,000 followers.

While U.N. officials consider the idea of installing free Wi-Fi, Zaatari residents have told reporters that they would be ecstatic if it were to come to fruition. Talash, the electronics vendor, told Al Jazeera, “life is comfortable enough here.” But with Internet access, Talash said his time at the camp would be much more tolerable.

“Ya rait [if only],” Talash said, “We’d be so happy.”

– Ana Powell

Sources: Al Jazeera, New York Times

Photo: AljeerzaE

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Jordan: A Refugee Haven

Jordan

The Middle East—in the north, Syria’s civil war between rebel forces trying to overthrow the dictator Bashar al-Assad rages. To the west, the perpetual conflict between Israel and Palestine continues. And with the rise of ISIS in Iraq to the east, there is no shortage of refugees.

Caught in the middle of this chaos is Jordan. The country has opened its borders for floods of refugees since the Syrian civil war broke out in 2011. An estimated 1.4 million Syrians have crossed into Jordan during the war, making it the highest concentration of refugees globally. In an interview with 60 Minutes last September, Jordan’s King Abdullah said that welcoming the refugees is the right thing to do: “Where else can the Syrians go? They are in dire straits.”

The situation in Jordan is a microcosm of a troubling trend. There are approximately 60 million refugees globally, averages that have not been seen since the end of World War II. Whether it is war, like in the Middle East, or a changing climate, people seek normalcy where there is food security and educational opportunity.

Unfortunately, assimilating refugees into a host country’s culture so that they may become working members of society is very costly. King Abdullah says that absorbing so many people has put a tremendous economic strain on his country. He does not know how long Jordan can continue.

The World Food Programme (WFP) has been an essential cog in the machine supplying Syrian refugees. Formed by the United Nations in the early 1960s, the program feeds 80 million people in 75 countries annually. The United States pays a third of its $4 billion annual budget.

Their largest operation ever has been at a United Nations refugee camp just inside Jordan. Housing an estimated 130,000 people, this city in the desert has become home to many.

The WFP has set up grocery stores in the camp. Instead of receiving three meals a day, each refugee gets a voucher of $29 dollars a month. This gives them the dignity of cooking for themselves, said WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin. In an interview with 60 Minutes last Thanksgiving, Cousin explained that this is a gesture of respect. “Many of these people had led normal, working lives,” she said. “The war took that from them.”

The organization has also been active in Syria. A portion of the 45,000 metric tons of food that is devoted to Jordanian refugee camps goes into Syria as well. Throughout the war, Assad’s forces have blockaded Syrian cities suspected of supporting the rebels. In Homs, the encirclement lasted more than 600 days before the WFP was able to negotiate a ceasefire with both sides to bring in vital food supplies.

The embattled civilians requested that the children, women and sick be evacuated before food was brought in. The WFP left Homs with 1,300 refugees and took them to the safety of Jordan. They left with a month’s worth of food supplies.

It is estimated that 6 million Syrians do not know where their next meal will come from. In the interview with 60 Minutes, an anonymous Syrian described how dire food shortages have become. His hometown just outside Damascus was sealed off. Despite the continued shelling and the exposure to nerve gas, he said hunger broke the town.

“No one thought we could starve to death in 21st century Syria,” he said. “The sad thing is that people are starving when food and aid is just minutes away, outside the blockades.” As the Syrian civil war continues and instability steadily dots every other corner of the region, Jordan has become the only option for refuge for many people.

Expanding humanitarian aid will allow Jordan and the WFP to help the millions who are still displaced today.

– Kevin Meyers

Sources: USAID, Business Insider, CBS 1, CBS 2
Photo: Flickr

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World Refugee Day

World Refugee Day
If the current refugees made up their own country, it would be the 26th largest in the world.

Commemorating World Refugee Day, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees stated that there are currently 51.2 million asylum-seekers, internally displaced people and refugees worldwide.

The United Nations said that over 50 million people, an increase of six million from previous years, were forced from their homes by the end of 2013, which surpasses World War II peak numbers. Tensions in South Sudan, the Central African Republic and Syria have caused the increase, but the figure is expected to rise even further as the situation in Iraq worsens.

Currently, there are 1.2 million people searching for asylum, 33.3 million internally displaced people and 16.7 million refugees worldwide. About half of these uprooted people are children.

This has put much pressure on UNHCR and other efforts to provide refugees with food, education and healthcare. During 2013, conflict and violence drove about 32,200 people every day out of their homes, as opposed to 14,200 in 2011 and 23,400 in 2012.

In a report on the refugee crisis, UNHCR stressed the problems that host countries are having dealing with the flood of refugees. 86 percent of refugees worldwide find shelter in developing countries, which causes increased strain on those countries’ resources.

Syria was once the world’s second largest refugee-hosting country. The current Syrian conflict has moved it to the second largest refugee-producing country. Neighbors of Syria, such as Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon, are now facing problems on how to deal with this influx of refugees. Jordan, which has been receiving up to a thousand refugees a day, has been attempting to decelerate the wave of refugees across its border, with little luck.

The current crisis in Iraq is also a major problem. UNICEF recently raised Iraq’s crisis to a level three humanitarian disaster, the most severe label. U.N. officials said they were rushing to prepare for the projected 1.5 million displaced people. U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres stated that humanitarians can only do so much, and solutions lie within political systems.

“We are seeing here the immense costs of not ending wars, of failing to resolve or prevent conflict,” he said. “Peace is today dangerously in deficit. Humanitarians can help as a palliative, but political solutions are vitally needed. Without this, the alarming levels of conflict and the mass suffering that is reflected in these figures will continue.”

— Colleen Moore

Sources: Kuwait Times
Photo: Flickr

New High Commissioner For the UN

Prince Zeid al Hussein, longtime Jordan diplomat, ambassador and former U.N. peacekeeper, has been nominated to replace Navi Pillay as the new high commissioner for human rights for the U.N. Currently serving as the U.N. Ambassador for Jordan, Zeid has built a strong career rallying behind such issues as international justice and sexual violence. If appointed, many hope his position will help bring a voice to the Middle East, specifically at a time where many individual rights in the area are under strain.

Zeid will be replacing Navi Pillay, a South-African born woman who was the first female to have started a law practice in her home province of Natal in 1967. Pillay has additionally served on the South African High Court and for the U.N. General Assembly for a total of eight years.

Pillay, whose four-year term was extended for two years, has worked to fight against domestic violence, and to improve economic, social and cultural rights.

Many hope Zeid’s new position will work to give answers to some of the injustice happening in the Middle East, and Zeid seems to be obliging. Showing interest in addressing horrific abuses in the three-year conflict in Syria, Zeid’s future position may bring as many burdens as it does advantages.

“Obviously a challenge is that he has to be willing to speak frankly about the record of silencing civil society, crushing peaceful protests, which is endemic in that region at this stage,” said Peggy Hicks, global advocacy director for Human Rights Watch.

Jordan, with help from Luxembourg and Australia, has been working on a draft which would provide humanitarian aid into Syria through four border crossings without government approval. Hopeful that the new position will explore new possibilities for the U.N., fellow diplomats have continued to offer praise for Zeid’s nomination. “Great choice,” said France’s Gerard Araud, via Twitter. “A committed defender of human rights and international law.”

Zeid has appointed Dina Kawar as Jordan’s new representative to the U.N.

— Nicholas Magnanti

Sources: Fox News, DW, DNA India
Photo: Free Beacon

Child Brides on the Rise Among Syrian Refugees

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Early marriage has always been present in rural Syrian areas where the level of education is low and the rate of poverty is high, and refugees from these small communities have carried the practice with them into Jordan.

Marrying off an underage daughter is sometimes the best option for refugee families; when traveling cross-country or living in close quarters such as refugee camps, married girls are often safer with a husband than they would be with their parents. Impoverished families sometimes seek the mahr, or bride price that’s made to the bride’s family by the groom or his family. Some girls are married to mask sexual abuse or dishonorable pre-marital sex; while starvation grows among camps, many girls feed themselves through prostitution.

While the customs of a mahr are usually relaxed among Syrian refugees who can rarely afford a high price, foreign grooms from Jordan or Palestine are encouraged to seek child brides so that families may demand a higher price. This mix of culture is sometimes to the disadvantage of refugee families. Aisha al-Masri, a psychologist based in Jordan, said there have been several documented cases of foreign men abandoning their young wives after a few weeks never to be heard from again.

The legal age of marriage and consent is 18 in Syria, but a legal loophole allows the Sharia courts to approve a union so long as the girl is over 15. The number of marriages approved by the Sharia courts has grown considerably with the rising number of refugees, but some struggling families are unable to complete the necessary application to make the wedding legal.

An illegal underage marriage has lasting consequences: any children that couple has will be considered illegitimate, hugely damaging the child’s social status and complicating its application for nationality and documentation. For this reason, many underage and unregistered marriages are done in private and only filed years later once the couples are both adults.

Girls in poor families are nearly twice as likely to marry young; once they are married, the chances of their finishing school are very remote. For every year a girl stays in school, her future wage is raised from 15 percent to 25 percent. Therefore, when a girl drops out of school to marry, her potential to later provide for her family is greatly lowered, and while men typically invest 30 percent to 40 percent of their wage back into their family, women typically reinvest 90 percent.

So while it may be the answer to an immediate problem for some, early childhood marriage often warps a girl’s ability to educate her future daughters and encourages the cycle of poverty. Deprived of schools, refugees are at a colossal disadvantage, and for every child bride that escapes starvation there is an increased likelihood that the next generation will starve.

-Lydia Caswell

Sources: Daily Star, Girls Not Brides, The Nation
Photo: Foreign Policy Association

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U.S. Response to the Syrian Refugee Crisis

us_response_to_syrian_refugee_crisis
CNN reports that the U.S. only accepted 30,000 Syrian refugees this fiscal year. Over the past three years, civil war has claimed the lives of 50,000 Syrians and produced 2.3 million refugees, half of them children.  The United Nations High Commission for Refugees wants to settle 30,000 of these people this year.

Yet, in the past, the United States has led the world in resettlement and humanitarian efforts.

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin said that the United States’ overly broad immigration bars are preventing Syrian refugees from taking asylum here — approximately 135,000 refugees have applied for asylum in the U.S.

The small nations surrounding Syria have welcomed refugees. Lebanon and Jordan began accepting refugees early on with individual families taking friends, family members and even strangers into their homes. Refugee camps were later built to house Syrians.

Lebanon has taken in more than 860,000 asylum seekers, more than 20% of its entire population. The town of Arsal, with a population of only 35,000, had taken in 19,000 refugees when it received an additional 20,000 in November.

Some 700,000 Syrian refugees are residing in Turkey. While 200,000 of these are being housed in 21 refugee camps, the remainder have found shelter in towns and cities.

While these countries have been generous, they do not have the space or resources to house this number of refugees and are beginning to see a rise in social and economic tensions. Schools and hospitals are running out of space and incomes have been dropping as residents compete for work.

The U.S. Department of State and USAID have been major sources of funding for humanitarian programs, providing basic necessities such as food, water, tents and medical supplies.

The United States has provided $300 million to Jordan since 2012. It has helped the country to expand its social services to be able to house Syrian refugees, for example 5 schools were built and 62 others were expanded.

However the U.S. is still lagging behind other countries in resettlement. Since the beginning of the Syrian civil war only 90 Syrians have found asylum in the United States. In contrast, Sweden has accepted 14,700 refugees and Germany has accepted 18,000.

Both Senator Dick Durbin and Senator Lindsay Graham are pushing for immigration reform that will allow for the acceptance of more Syrian refugees into the U.S.

– Elizabeth Brown

Sources: CNN, U.S. Department of State, U.S. News, Think Progress
Photo: UN News Centre