Syrian women refugees attend a meeting at the women’s centre in Azmi Al Mufti Camp in Irbid’s Huson District, over 80km north of Amman, recently (Photo by Elisa Oddone)
According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), less than a fifth of the Syrian refugees live in Jordan’s two official camps, the Zaatari camp in Mafraq and Mreijeb Al Fhoud in Zarqa, with a vast majority living in scattered host communities.
“About 300 Syrian families live in Al Mufti camp,” Hussein Hasaneen, field coordinator of the programme for the Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees in Jordan, told The Jordan Times.The camp, established in 1968 as an emergency facility to house Palestinian refugees displaced from the West Bank and Gaza Strip following the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, has become a small town with schools, hospitals and shops.
Forced to work long hours and often left at the mercy of employers, refugees are not authorised to work in Jordan except for a maximum wage of JD5 a day, the women claimed at the meeting.“We lack a work permit, and we cannot pay JD700 to buy one. If one tries to work illegally and gets caught, he/she is sent to Zaatari. There is too much at stake to risk that,” Mikdad said.
“The goal we pursue in these meetings is to encourage Syrian women to reflect on their needs. Women are the most negatively affected by the Syrian crisis, as they are often left alone to cope with the needs of their children and elders,” Hasaneen said.
