Refugee life in Jordan's Zaatary camp

European Ministers flocked to the Zaatary camp for Syrian refugees in Jordan to see the conditions of the refugees and listen to their stories about what they went through in Syria. The refugees  are covered by sand dunes most of the day while people are sleeping there in darkness and gather in lines to get water, while a Jordanian official predicted a further increase in the number of refugees after moving them from tents to newly ready caravans, which have been placed for this purpose awaiting more support to meet the camp’s urgent needs. Jordanian Minister of Information, Samih Maaytah said that “the current camp is being transformed in to a camp of caravans with all basic services  and amenities available, through coordination with the Hashemite Charity Organisaton, and by Arab and International support.” Secretary General of the Jordanian Hashemites Charity Organisation Ayman Mefleh said the organisation is working hard and in cooperation with all humanitarian and international organizations to continue serving the Syrian refugees, where the organisation serves about 95 thousand Syrian refugee in all parts of the kingdom which requires more of the necessary support to Jordan so it can play its required role. He explained that: “The field Moroccan hospital building has started in the camp and can hold almost 60 beds with the supervision of medical and nursing staff to provide health and treatment services to the Syrian refugees,and to decrease the trouble of going to a state hospital.” Heath care administrative director in Jordan’s Ministry of health, Dr Bassam Hijjawi said “Staff are working in co-operation with the state authorities to provide primary health care for our Syrian brothers, and the continuous control of the shelters for Syrian refugees with the target of maintaining their care, providing treatment against all diseases through the vaccination of Syrian children as they enter the Jordanian territory without delay.” Is was decided to have an office for the Ministry of Interior inside the camp to follow-up the financial support of the resident Syrian refugees in the camp, including urgent humanitarian cases, especially after the government’s decision to prevent financial aid. The financial aids are carried out within new instructions developed for this purpose by clarifying the procedures and the reasons after refugees leave, and their places of stay where health conditions of each refugee are taken into consideration and officially documented within reports. Food and medical supplies arrive to the camp from various countries around the world, where on Sunday the moving field hospital of UAE arrived to the camp’s location under the supervision of Jordanian and Emirate medical staff equipped with the best medical services to treat the Syrian refugee patient. Thousands of displaced Syrians live in difficult conditions in the Zaatari camp which is located in Mafraq state (100km north the Jordanian capital). The camp lacks basic services for the 3,500 Syrians it now contains. Zaatary is the first camp for displaced Syrians in Jordan, it opened at the end of July 2012 when the number of refugees exceeded 150,000. The camp was opened with a capacity of 3,000 people and is supposed to reach 113,000 when completed.