Syrian refugees living in ‘abject poverty’ as crisis deepens

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has called on the international community to step up efforts to alleviate the suffering of the 620,000 registered Syrian refugees living in Jordan, many of whom are living in "dire conditions".

The UNHCR Living in the Shadows report reveals a deepening humanitarian crisis in Jordan where one in six Syrian refugees lives in abject poverty, with less than $40 (€34) per person per month make ends meet.

Two-thirds of refugees in Jordan are now living below the national poverty line.

“Unless the international community increases its support to refugees, families will opt for ever more drastic coping strategies,” said UN High commissioner for Refugees António Guterres at the launch of the report.

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

The Syrian conflict, which is now recognised as the biggest humanitarian crisis the world has seen since the second world war, has forced millions of Syrians to seek asylum abroad in neighbouring Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq, with a small number making the journey to Europe.

The UNHCR and International Relief and Development (IRD) study is based on homes visits with almost 150,000 Syrian refugees who were living outside refugee camps in 2014. There are more than 84,000 Syrian refugees living in Jordan’s largest refugee camp, Za’atari.

Almost half of the households visited had no heating, a quarter had unreliable electricity, and 20 per cent had no functioning toilet. Living conditions for almost half of all refugees in Jordan were described as “bad or uninhabitable”.

Mr Guterres warned that the recent freezing winter weather conditions in Jordan’s Za’tari camp were “posing an even greater strain on their already dire living conditions”.

Winter storms have swept across Jordan and Lebanon in recent days, bringing heavy snowfall, rain, high winds and freezing temperatures to the tens of thousands of refugees living in makeshift shelters.

Mr Guterres said the growing numbers of Syrian refugees had put huge pressure on Jordanian economy and society, adding that the instability of the Syrian conflict could put Jordan at risk.

“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.”