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UNIPATH STAFF
The girls are just teenagers — but their stories are harrowing. Having left Syria for asylum in neighboring Jordan, they’re trying to cope with what they’ve experienced.
“We fled death. It was horrible — there was shelling, and we were lucky to escape,” one girl said. “Because of bad phone connections, we haven’t been able to talk to family who stayed in Homs.” Now living in a refugee camp, the girls worry about their families and an uncertain future. They battle boredom and survivor’s guilt. “I’m not comfortable being here while people are dying in Syria,” said 19-year-old Rahaf, who fled when a bomb blast killed her sisters and injured her brother.
Aid agencies, such as the Jordan Red Crescent and the United Nations Children’s Fund, set up workshops to provide psychological support for the refugees. It is one of the many ways governments and other organizations have joined together to aid the masses who fled war-torn Syria.
Officials estimate that by January 2013 some 700,000 Syrians had escaped to Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. By the end of the year, the figure is expected to hit 1 million.
In December 2012 officials announced that a joint Jordanian-U.N. operations center will be created in Jordan to better coordinate humanitarian aid for the refugees.
“We reiterate our commitment to fully supporting not only the Syrian refugees but also the host countries that have generously granted protection to them, as is the case of Jordan,” U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) António Guterres said.
The conflict, he added, was “evolving in a way that makes us foresee the possibility that 2013 will be very much more dramatic than 2012. So the support to the trapped Syrians inside the country … to the Syrians who are now refugees in Turkey, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon, and to the host countries in the region needs to be very strongly enhanced in 2013.”
About 40 percent of the registered refugees are living in camps. As of December 2012, there were three camps in Jordan, three in Iraq and 14 in Turkey. Refugees not housed in the camps are renting housing or staying with host families.
“The numbers of those struggling to live on the local economy and who eventually come forward to register are expected to increase as the conflict in Syria continues, resources are depleted and host communities and families can no longer support them,” said UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming.
Other countries are helping as well. By October 2012, more than 6,000 Syrian refugees had registered for assistance in Egypt; officials expect this figure to increase dramatically as the refugees run out of money or their visas expire.
Militaries, governments and humanitarian organizations have also coordinated their efforts to provide aid. The United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the Arab League have contributed food, money, medical supplies and housing-related items.