Kun en time regnede det. Men det var nok til at ødelægge flere telte i en stor, syrisk flygtningelejr i Jordan. Nu vil FNs Flygtningeorganisation (UNHCR) sikre campingvogne til alle i lejren inden årets udgang.
ZA’ATARI, 4. november 2013 (IRIN): One hour of heavy rainfall on 2 November soaked Za’atari camp for Syrian refugees in northern Jordan, highlighting the need to prepare the camp for the upcoming winter season.
Dozens of tents were damaged, according to refugees and aid workers, forcing families to seek refuge with neighbours and relatives who have pre-fabricated trailers, known as caravans.
“The tent just fell over our head,” said camp resident Mahmoud Jabbawi. “Everything is so wet now.”
No riots or injuries were reported.
In January, when the camp was still relatively new and in emergency response phase, two days of heavy rainfall caused flooding across the camp, and several hundred people were temporarily displaced. Older, unpaved parts of the camp became something of a swamp.
As tensions rose because of the cold and windy conditions, refugees rioted and injured several aid workers at one of the food distribution sites.
In the northern part of Jordan, where Za’atari camp – home to some 120,000 people – is located, temperatures drop to below zero in January, the coldest month of the year.
A week before the first rainfall this year, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) told IRIN it had a better plan for winter this year.
“Time is running [out], but we feel we are on top of it,” said Kilian Kleinschmidt, who manages the camp on behalf of UNHCR.
By the end of the year, UNHCR hopes to have replaced all UN tents with caravans donated by Gulf states, as “the key step” to keeping people safe and warm during winter.
“Our goal is to end the era of tents,” Kleinschmidt noted.
Currently, UNHCR needs 4,000 more caravans to ensure each of the 24,000 households in the camp has one. But in recent months, some Gulf States have “suspended” their donations, he said: “It could be financial.”
Caravans are instead sold and re-sold in a black market trade inside the camp, at prices few refugees can afford. With winter approaching, refugees say prices have risen to as high 450 Jordanian dinars (US$635), leaving families who cannot afford them vulnerable to the elements.
