Christmas is approaching and people around the world are preparing to celebrate with friends and family. In my home country Jordan, where I recently returned as country director for the humanitarian aid organisation CARE, Christmas is also a time to experience joy, peace and happiness with friends and neighbours. Today, many of these neighbours in big cities such as Amman or Zarqa are refugees who fled Syria. They have sought shelter in Jordan from a conflict that has been ravaging in their home country for more than two years now.
This year marks the third Christmas since the conflict began in 2011, when most families still lived in their country. Today, more than 2.2 million Syrians have fled to neighbouring countries and further abroad. At the same time, more than nine million people – close to half the population – are desperately in need of aid inside Syria.
Relief agencies are stretched to their limits and the delivery of humanitarian aid remains extremely difficult. This is due to both security concerns within Syria and a lack of financial resources for humanitarian aid in the region. The majority of refugees – more than 70% – do not live in refugee camps, but in urban areas or outside the city in spontaneous settlements. These families are hard to find, they seek shelter in apartments, with host families or in warehouses or garages. Aid agencies need staff, means of transport and time to find the most vulnerable and identify their needs. The refugees mainly cite cash as their most urgent need as it is not possible to get a work permit as a refugee. So how are they to pay their rent, their food and their medical bills?
I grew up in Jordan as a child of a Palestinian refugee family and I consider this country my home. It has been very difficult, coming back after years abroad, to see the burden put on Jordanian host communities by the refugee influx. But at the same time, I was encouraged to hear from Syrian families about the many ways Jordanian neighbours provide support, both through donations and by simply opening their doors and lending their ears to the many stories of horror and despair that these refugees have endured.
Even though many Syrians don’t celebrate Christmas, they tell me it used to be a very special time for them. “We would spend quiet evenings with our family and give thanks for what we had. Now we are afraid of the coming days and months, because it gets colder and colder. Christmas time now means sitting in our run-down, crowded apartment and trying to find ways to stay warm,” one refugee told me.
According to official figures, there are now more than 560,000 Syrian refugees in Jordan. The humanitarian community worries that the influx will continue to increase as long as there is no peace in sight in Syria. In Jordan, the influx of refugees is felt in many ways: Rents and food prices are soaring, accommodation is scarce, and classes at school are being held in shifts. For many decades, Jordan has welcomed refugees from many parts of the region – Iraqis, Palestinians, and now Syrians. It is hard to imagine Australia accommodating the equivalent of 10 per cent of its population without this putting the population’s resources and hospitality to a severe test. Jordan is facing this test, every day.
CARE is a non-partisan humanitarian organisation and we do not adhere to any religious belief system. But as I’ve walked the streets of Amman at night these past few weeks, looking at families and friends gathering to celebrate Christmas, I feel very encouraged. Isn’t Christmas a welcome time to remind all of us around the globe, whatever beliefs, languages or cultures we adhere to, that the spirit of humanity is our most powerful tool against the feeling of despair and powerlessness? None of us can individually bring an end to the conflict in Syria, but we can and need to continue to call on world leaders to engage the conflict parties in peace talks.
There is something else we can do: Whether it is a home-cooked meal and a cup of tea offered to a Syrian refugee by their Jordanian neighbour or a small donation to CARE Australia or other agencies working to support Syrian refugees – every act of humanity counts, not just at Christmas.
Find out more about CARE’s work with Syrian refugees at www.care.org.au/syria or call 1800 020 046 to make a donation to CARE’s Syrian Refugee Crisis Appeal.