Plight
of Refugees in
Za'atari Camp
in Jordan
Obscured Amid
UN's Syria
Superbowl
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 30 --
Syria's
neighbors were
given center
stage in
the UN
Security
Council on
Thursday, to
talk up what
they do for
refugees.
Inner
City Press
asked the UN's
top official
for refugees,
UNHRC's
Antonio
Gutteres,
about the
Za'atari camp
in Jordan, and
about a
protest of
UNHCR in
Annan. (At
this last, new
Deputy
Secretary
General Jan
Eliasson
raised his
eyebrows,
seeming
surprised that
the UN would
be protested.)
Video
here, from
Minute
2:50.
Gutteres
said
Jordan decided
to establish
that camp in
"a very
difficult
situation from
the point of
view of the
environmental
conditions."
You might say:
the tents are
blown down by
sandy winds
and there are
scorpions.
Residents
protested (or
rioted) and
now up to 150
of them
face refoulement,
in
UNHCR-speak,
to Syria.
Inner
City Press
asked Gutteres
about this; he
replied with a
hope that it
was a one time
incident,
"quickly
solved."
But
what about
these 150
people?
Inner
City Press
asked Syrian
Permanent
Representative
Bashar
Ja'afari
about the
camp. His
answer was
that
government
should let
people
return, that
they only left
because the
rebels used
them as human
shields. He
riffed about
countries with
the "dirty
habit"
of making
money off
other people's
suffering,
calling it a
"stock
market."
French
foreign
minister
Laurent Fabius
bragged in his
statement in
the
Council about
providing
doctors in
Za'atari,
without
addressing if
the camp is in
a livable
location much
less those
about to be
sent
back to Syria.
He took only
two questions
afterward,
none on this.
Unlike
the
Permanent
Representatives
not only of
Syria but also
Russia, and
the ministers
of Lebanon and
France (though
only for two
questions),
Jordan's
Nasser Judeh
did not come
to take any
questions at
the
stakeout. But
he is active
on Twitter,
where he has
his supporters;
his Permanent
Representative
at the UN is
omnipresent.
So
we hope to
have more on
these 150 (and
more) people.
From
the UN's
August 30,
2012
transcript:
Inner
City Press:
Mr. Guterres,
I want to ask
you about a
specific UNHCR
issue where
there is this
camp in
Jordan, the
Zatari camp,
where some
people were
protesting, or
rioting
against the
conditions.
Now Jordan
has said it is
going to
return some
people to
Syria, and I
heard that
there was a
protest in
Amman at your
office, saying
maybe they
shouldn’t be
in the middle
of the desert
with winds and
scorpions.
What is your
position on
one, the
placement of
that camp, and
what
should happen
with the
people who
were
protesting the
conditions?
Mr.
Guterres:
First of all,
the
overwhelming
majority of
the Syrians in
Jordan – and
we are talking
now about
180,000 people
- are within
the community,
received by
families.
At
a certain
moment, for
reasons
related to
their impact
on the
economy,
the society,
the Jordanian
Government –
and Jordan is
a sovereign
country – has
decided that a
camp should be
opened. And,
obviously,
that was done.
The camp is in
a very
difficult
situation,
from the point
of view of the
environmental
conditions.
All agencies
are doing
their best, in
order to
provide
assistance,
and a lot of
efforts are
being made now
in order to
improve the
camp. And I
hope
that these
incidents will
just be an
incident in
the context of
something that
will be
quickly
solved.
Watch
this site.
, 
