JORDAN / NEW ARRIVALS

Tens of thousands of the Syrian refugees inJordanlive outside camps. But life in cities, towns and even villages is expensive. UNHCR

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:31
• Production Date: 28 February 2013
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES - UNHCR
• Subject Topical: HUMANITARIAN RELIEF; REFUGEES; DISPLACED PERSONS
• Geographic Subject: JORDAN; SYRIA
• MAMS Id: U130228d

Description

STORY: JORDAN / NEW ARRIVALS
TRT: 2.31
SOURCE: UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ARABIC/ ENGLISH / NATS

28 JANUARY 2013, ZARQA, AMMAN, JORDAN

Shotlist

28 JANUARY 2013, ZARQA, JORDAN

1. Wide shot, Man sitting viewing city
2. Wide shot, Between city buildings
3. Wide shot, Above view into building
4. Wide shot, two man carrying gas tank in street
5. Med shot, Hassan entering home gate
6. Med shot, woman holding baby inside home
7. Med shot, Hassan pulling curtain down
8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Hassan Madi, Syrian Refugee:
“My entire family lives in this one room. We don't even have a bathroom. We have to go to the neighbors upstairs.”
9. Med shot, Hassan and family in house
10. Med shot, Little child by door
11. Med shot, People entering house
12. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Hassan Madi, Syrian Refugee:
“This room is better than there. This room is better than a camp."

28 JANUARY 2013, AMMAN, JORDAN

13. Med shot, street outside of UNHCR office
14. Med shot, entrance of NHCR office, people walking in
15. Med shot, People crowded at the door of office
16. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Kholoud Jumaa Al-Hassan Syrian Refugee Damascus:
"We left our houses and our homeland, so living is difficult, but we would not be comfortable even if we were living in a palace in exile."
17. Med shot, People crowded at the door of office
18. Med shot, ID documents
19. Med shot, Woman being registered using iris scanner fro registration
20. Med shot, Outside of interview room
21. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Schimmel, UNHCR Senior Field Coordinator:
“The vast majority of the refugees are actually outside of the camps in urban setting. Most of them in northern Jordan and a lot in and around Amman as well. And the few scuttled into remote areas. We are talking about roughly 80% of the (refugee) population staying in urban areas. Renting in most cases and facing with difficult times, especially during the winter months.”
22. Various shots, Doa Kassam walking to her apartment
23. Med shot, Ghada sitting and speaking to UNHCR officer
24. Med shot, UNHCR officer listening to Ghada
25. Various shots, UNHCR and Ghada speaking, view from above
26. Wide shot, Ghada walking out of building
27. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ghada Kasem Syrian Refugee from Homs:
“I never dreamt fleeing my country. When I went out from my home I was never out for more than a week.”
28. Med shot, UNHCR registration offices, people being attended to
29. Close up, hand on computer mouse
30. Med shot, ID information on computer screen
31 Med shot, woman at registration desk
32. Med shot, UNHCR officer writing down on document
33. Close up, document being stamped
34. Med shot, small yellow document being signed
35. Med shot, woman at computer desk being helped

Storyline

It’s urban living in a foreign land.

That’s how most of the Syrian refugees in Jordan live not in camps but in cities and towns.

Government estimates put the number at nearly a quarter of a million.
Twenty, three year old Hassan Madi settled in the town of Zarqa, north of Amman.

He shares this storage room in an apartment building with nine others refugees

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Hassan Madi, Syrian Refugee:
“My entire family lives in this one room. We don't even have a bathroom. We have to go to the neighbors upstairs.”

The family pays 85 US a month for this shelter. The children don’t attend school the influx of so many new people have made food expensive, but it is still preferable to a camp setting, says Hassan.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Hassan Madi, Syrian Refugee:
“This room is better than there. This room is better than a camp."

Registration facilitates access to assistance…including financial help. The amount given depends on the size of the family …but it ranges from 70-170 US a month.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Kholoud Jumaa Al-Hassan, Syrian refugee from Damascus:
"We left our houses and our homeland, so living is difficult, but we would not be comfortable even if we were living in a palace in exile."

Refugees come to their appointments with whatever documents they have.
In some centers, Iris scanning has been introduced for future identification.

SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Schimmel, UNHCR Senior Field Coordinator:
“The vast majority of the refugees are actually outside of the camps in urban setting. Most of them in northern Jordan and a lot in and around Amman as well. And the few scuttled into remote areas. We are talking about roughly 80 percent of the (refugee) population staying in urban areas. Renting in most cases and facing with difficult times, especially during the winter months.”

Doa Kassam is eleven and a refugee. She lives with her mother and siblings in this rented room.

Her mother Ghada registered some months ago. Since then the family has been getting monthly cash assistance from UNHCR. Ghada manages….but nostalgia still grips her.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ghada Kasem Syrian Refugee from Homs:
“I never dreamt fleeing my country. When I went out from my home I was never out for more than a week.”

Meanwhile UNHCR is scaling up its registration process to catch up and keep up with the new arrivals.