Despite UAE aid campaign, UN warns of Syrian refugees’ poverty and desperation

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said large numbers of Syrian refugees were sliding into abject poverty, and at an alarming rate, due to the magnitude of the crisis and insufficient support from the international community.

Rashid al-Mansuri, Consul General of the United Arab Emirates to Erbil, visits Syrian-Kurdish refugees as aid is distributed by the Emirates Red Crescent at the Quru Gusik (Kawergosk) refugee camp. Safin Hamed / AFP PHOTOShow less

The Emirates Red Crescent said more than 20,000 people affected by the severe snowstorm Huda in Jordan have benefited from UAE aid since last week's launch of the Compassion campaign.

But it comes against a grim prediction from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, who said large numbers of Syrian refugees were sliding into abject poverty, and at an alarming rate, due to the magnitude of the crisis and insufficient support from the international community.

“I am here to express my solidarity with Syrian refugees, as the impact of snowstorm Huda is still tangible and posing an even greater strain on their already dire living conditions,” said UNHCR’s Antonio Guterres during a two-day visit to Jordan.

“Unless the international community increases its support to refugees, families will opt for ever more drastic coping strategies.

“More children will drop out of school to work and more women will be at risk of exploitation, including survival sex.”

Mr Guterres made the statement at the launch of a new UNHCR study, Living in the Shadows, which revealed evidence of a deepening humanitarian crisis. The study was based on home visits with almost 150,000 Syrian refugees living outside of camps in Jordan last year.

Two-thirds of refugees across Jordan are now living below the national poverty line, and one in six Syrian refugee households is in abject poverty, with less than US$40 (Dh146) per person a month to make ends meet, according to the study.

Almost half of the households researchers visited had no heating, a quarter had unreliable electricity, and 20 per cent had no functioning toilet.

Rental costs accounted for more than half of household expenditures, and refugee families were being forced to share accommodations with others to reduce costs.

Jordan has a registered Syrian refugee population of 620,000, about 84 per cent of whom live outside camps.

“This represents a dramatic pressure in the economy and the society of the country, not to mention the terrible security impact of the Syria crisis in itself,” said Mr Guterres.

“The generosity of the Jordanian people and the government needs to be matched by massive support from the international community – support for the refugees themselves and for the local populations hosting them, but also structural and budgetary support to the Jordanian government for education, health, water and sanitation and electricity, to enable it to cope with this enormous challenge.” The UAE’s Compassion campaign, launched last week by the President, Sheikh Khalifa, has raised more than Dh208 million from government bodies, business and residents of the UAE, and in-kind donations.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, has also instructed humanitarian and relief agencies to continue delivery of assistance to Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Iraqi Kurdistan throughout the winter. ERC teams also continue to distribute aid packages to Syrian refugees, with the latest distribution taking place in Erbil, in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.

The ERC said yesterday it delivered humanitarian aid to approximately 1,500 people at refugee camps in Al Mafraq Governorate in Jordan.

Hamdan Musallam Al Mazrouei, chairman of the board of the ERC, inspected work at the Emirati-Jordanian Field Hospital in Al Mafraq, which was established in 2012 for refugees. It now serves about 800 outpatients a day.

Mr Al Mazrouei also visited Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan to assess relief needs.

Meanwhile, the UAE’s Human Appeal International has donated US$200,000 (Dh734,600) for 1,200 families, to support Palestinian orphans in the City of Jenin, West Bank.

The aid benefits the poor by supporting the healthcare, educational and social sectors.