Displaced by war, more than 650,000 Syrians have fled to Jordan over the past eight years. After years of living in refuge, they still live every day with the uncertainty of what the future might bring. Nour, a 14-year-old Syrian refugee girl living in Amman, the capital of Jordan, takes us with her on a day in her life and shares with us her dreams, hopes, memories and daily experiences.
Jordan hosts more than 650,000 Syrian refugees who have fled the civil war, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), with 80% of them living outside of the three main refugee camps in the north of the country. After several years in exile, and with restricted income generation opportunities, many refugees have depleted their assets and, as a result, often resort to negative coping mechanisms, such as taking their children out of school, accruing massive amounts of debt, reducing their food intake, or accepting hazardous and exploitative work conditions.
Syrians living in host communities who are not duly registered with the Jordanian Ministry of Interior (MoI) and the UNHCR are denied access to public subsidised healthcare, humanitarian assistance, and decent job opportunities through work permits. They lack an official record of major family events, such as births or marriages, and are exposed to risks of arrest, forced relocation, family separation, and even deportation and statelessness.
On March 4th 2018, the MoI and the UNHCR launched a status regularisation campaign, which gives Syrian refugees who did not register with the authorities when they entered Jordan, or left the camps without prior approval, the possibility to legalise their residence in host communities. DRC and five other international NGOs have formed a consortium, funded by the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), which provides legal information and counselling for close to 100,000 Syrian refugees and financial assistance to more than 50,000 individuals, in order to support this regularisation process and enhance these refugees’ resilience and protection status.
The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is a humanitarian, non-governmental, non-profit organisation founded in 1956 that works in more than 40 countries throughout the world. DRC fulfils its mandate by providing direct assistance to conflict – affected populations – refugees, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and host communities in the conflict areas of the world.
DRC’s country strategy in Jordan aspires to deliver high quality, contextually driven programming, responding to the needs of displacement-affected individuals and communities. DRC’s programming in Jordan is focused on two sectors: protection and livelihood. DRC is operational in seven governorates across Jordan, including in Azraq refugee camp.
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The European Union and its Member States are the world's leading donor of humanitarian aid.
Relief assistance is an expression of European solidarity with people in need all around the world. It aims to save lives, prevent and alleviate human suffering, and safeguard the integrity and human dignity of populations affected by natural disasters and man-made crises. The European Commission ensures rapid and effective delivery of EU relief assistance through its two main instruments: civil protection and humanitarian aid. Through its Civil Protection and Humanitarian aid Operations department (ECHO), the European Commission helps millions of victims of conflict and disasters every year. With headquarters in Brussels and a global network of field offices, the department provides assistance to the most vulnerable people on the basis of humanitarian needs. For more information, please visit the European Commission's website.
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