JORDAN: Syrian refugees clash with security forces at refugee camp

Record ID: 346630

  • Title: JORDAN: Syrian refugees clash with security forces at refugee camp
  • Date: 29th August 2012
  • Summary: JORDANIAN AND UNITED NATIONS (U.N.) FLAGS INSIDE OFFICES OF THE U.N. REFUGEE AGENCY (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNHCR REPRESENTATIVE TO JORDAN, ANDREW HARPER, SAYING: "The situation is getting increasingly challenging both in terms of numbers - over the last week, we've had about an average of 2,000 people coming across a day. And the situation in Zataari is, obviously, very di
  • Embargoed: 13th September 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Jordan
  • Country: Jordan
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAB5AWDYY3P20KUQN4YLR8Y94ZJ
  • Story Text: After a night of unrest in Jordan's Zataari refugee camp, life went back to normal at the desert camp on Wednesday (August 29) with more refugees flooding in to escape heavy shelling in the towns and villages of Syria's Deraa province.
    Unhappy about lack of food and bad living conditions, a group of new arrivals had clashed with police who which used tear gas to disperse protesters.
    "The situation is tragic here, they put us in the desert, not a camp. This desert is for camels, not humans. What happened last night is that some people did not get food, and the food was bad. People went out demanding food and the gendarmerie attacked them with sticks and batons. People threw rocks and the two sides clashed,. The police used tear gas bombs, hitting the tents. We saved more than ten children," said refugee Khalid al Hariri.
    The camp has been flooded with refugees, with its inhabitants soaring up to 20,000 within ten days.
    Jordan said this week it will be opening a new camp in a nearby town after the United Arab Emirates agreed to fund construction of a new site.
    Andrew Harper, a representative of the UN refugee agency UNHCR, said it was difficult to cope with the numbers of new arrivals at Zataari camp.
    "The situation is getting increasingly challenging both in terms of numbers - over the last week, we've had about an average of 2,000 people coming across a day. And the situation in Zataari is, obviously, very difficult and tense as well. We had problems last night with those clashes between the refugees and the security forces. But thankfully, things are now calm. And we've now got to focus on enhancing the delivery of services and support to the camp."
    The Jordanian government said several policemen where injured when protesters threw stones at baton wielding police.
    Abel Haleem Hariri, a refugee from Tafas in Deraa province, said refugees were suffering from the dust and the monotony of the food provided to refugees.
    "There are things that we can not deny, there was an attack on the police. As for the general situation, yes, we are suffering from the dust and type of meals, every day chicken and rice, chicken and rice, we are fed up with rice and chicken, bring us two cucumbers and no need for this meal."
    Refugees complain of the camp's inhospitable nature given its location in the desert and said they struggled with sand storms and extreme heat.
    The U.N. said the pace of Syrian refugees reaching Zaatri camp in northern Jordan had doubled, with 10,200 arriving in the last week.
    There are nearly 70,000 Syrian refugees registered or awaiting registration in Jordan, although thousands more have not signed up for assistance, according to the U.N. refugee agency.
    Jordan opened the Zataari camp near the town of Mafraq, about 10 km (six miles) from the Syrian border, in late July to accommodate refugees from Syria near the border.
    Refugee flows to Turkey and Jordan have grown as fighting worsened around Syria's northern city of Aleppo and across the southern province of Deraa.
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