News blog

Hundreds of refugees wait to register at the entrance to Zaatari Refugee Camp. Women hold small children in their arms, some carry suitcases and small bags, others have come with nothing but the clothes they are wearing. Driving around the perimeter of the camp offers a glimpse into what life is like here – the world these new arrivals are entering into. 

Today it is hot and the sun burns down on the camp. Men and women sit on the floor, squeezing into the small piece of shade cast by their tent; some watch children play in the gravel, some simply stare out across the plain of the Jordanian desert.

Others busy themselves with daily tasks; carrying buckets of water back and forth from the large tanks dotted around the camp, sweeping out the dust from their tents, or pinning out the few clothes they have on the strings which snake between the thousands of tents and prefabricated units.

There is so little to do here that many pass the time by talking. They tell each other their stories – of what life was like in their town or village under the conflict, of the moment they decided to leave, of loved ones they left behind. Many describe lives under fire; weeks spent hiding in shelters or basements, of bombings and air strikes on their homes and villages, of houses burned, of fleeing under gun fire.

A young man tries to explain what life was like in Syria before he left. He stops midway and shows me instead with a video on his phone. It is a scene of chaos – shooting, shouting and screaming. A burned body is covered and a man is rushed into an ambulance.  His wife tells him to put it away, that no good can come from remembering what happened.

The majority of people I speak to feel safer here, but the sound of bombing over the border is a reminder of the ongoing destruction of their country, a sign that this tented city could be their home for weeks, months, or even years to come.

>> Donate to our Syria Crisis Appeal 

About this time last week I was recovering after getting up at ridiculous-o-clock to join 500 committed campaigners dressed as George Osborne in Parliament Square.

A 70-ft riser took (some fairly reluctant) photo-journalists to the perfect vantage point for capturing an aerial shot of the ‘Georges’ arranged into the shape of the word ‘IF’. We certainly captured the imagination of the press and public alike, later appearing in Time magazine, the Sun and on Newsnight, among dozens of other outlets.

Take a look at this short video of the day:

But while the stunt was fun and fairly silly, the message was absolutely serious and important. Ahead of his Budget, we wanted George Osborne to pay close attention the Enough IF campaign, and particularly to the key target of keeping our nation’s promise to spend just 0.7 per cent of our collective income on helping the world’s poorest people. And he did.

With one in eight people in the world still going hungry – notwithstanding the fact that there is enough food for all of us – this was a momentous day for global development. There is enough food IF, we tackle the structural causes of world hunger.

Join us and add your name to the Enough IF campaign now

"I came with my husband and our children. We didn’t have time to bring anything with us. We were attacked in our homes. We only brought the clothes we were wearing...we weren’t planning to leave, but we had no choice, we just fled."

Amalia is a Syrian refugee living in Lebanon. She left Syria over a year ago, but so fresh in her mind are the memories of the night they left, she could be talking about something that happened yesterday.

He still remembers what he saw
 
Amalia isn’t the only one of her family affected by the events they witnessed. She explains that even now her daughter still gets frightened when she hears loud bangs. But it is her eldest son, 11, who she thinks has been most affected: “he is stressed and depressed and refuses to go to school. May be it’s because he’s the eldest and he’s old enough to understand – he still remembers what happened and what he saw.”
 
Amalia and her family fled to the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon. They found safety there, but have struggled to support themselves and adjust to their new life as refugees:

“At the beginning it was really difficult, it’s got a little easier now. We didn’t have any support when we first arrived. The grocery store would give us food and we would pay later. Then we started buying things in really small quantities – just a kilo of rice at a time.”

Seven in one room

Like many Syrian refugees in Lebanon, the family struggled to find anywhere they could afford to live. They resorted to renting the premises of an abandoned shop. It has a glass front that looks out onto the road, bare breeze block walls, a cold concrete floor and no kitchen. It also has rats.

They have constructed a room within it using pieces of wood and plastic sheeting to give them privacy and a little warmth. Inside it is dark and cramped and the seven members of the family sleep in one room together.

We are not managing

Amalia and her husband pay 200,000 Lebanese lira (£87) a month to live here. But Amalia’s husband has been out of work for the last three months and they haven’t been able to meet the payments. Next month her landlord is increasing it to 230,000 (£103), pushing them further into debt: “we need money to pay towards the rent. We are not managing,” she says.

Amalia’s situation isn’t unusual. Thousands of refugees are struggling to meet the costs of accommodation, food and bills.

Over the coming weeks and months ActionAid will be supporting refugees in Lebanon through livelihoods programmes which will help refugees to support themselves. To do this we need your help.

>> Donate to the Syria Crisis Appeal

Hannah is in Lebanon talking to Syrian refugees. Names below have been changed to protect identities.

Nessrine speaks slowly and quietly as she explains the reason she and her family left Syria. “There was bombing everywhere, there were airstrikes…when the bombs were dropped our house shook.”

The intense fighting in the towns and villages across Syria has led to 1.1 million people fleeing the country in search of safety. For Nessrine and her family it was not only the terror of living in a war zone, but also the deterioration of their living conditions and the inability to meet their basic needs which forced them to flee.

“We couldn’t buy anything, we had no bread, no water and no electricity for the last five months we were there… I have six children and I have to feed them so I decided to come here.”

But Nessrine and her family have moved from one desperate situation to another. After many months of not working in Syria, they arrived in Lebanon with no money and barely any belongings: “We didn’t bring anything with us.  We need everything.  We don’t have any clothes apart from what we have on. We don’t have much food.”

The eight family members live in a small tent on the edge of a field. All they own is a few thin mattresses and a couple of blankets – everything has been given to them by neighbours or the local mosque. Outside they have one pan which sits over a small stove.  They cook outside, have no toilet, shower, or even a source of water.

Nessrine says she left Syria because she needed to feed her children, but she is facing the same difficulty in Lebanon: “At the moment I am relying on my brother, who sent us some rice and sugar, and money from neighbours.”

The burden of providing for her family sits on Nessrine’s shoulders.  She explains that her husband is not able to work and that in Syria she was a farmer responsible for earning the income to support the family. “I need to get a job as my husband cannot work.  The most important thing is for my children to be fed.”

It is difficult to imagine how long Nessrine and her family can live like this.  But the family will face difficulties in finding accommodation here.  More than 360,000 Syrian people have flooded into Lebanon over the last two years, increasing Lebanon’s population by an estimated 10 per cent.

The influx of people has had a huge impact on the economy. In some areas of Bekaa, the cost of rent has doubled as a result of increased demand, and the sheer number of people in such a short space of time has meant there is a lack of safe and affordable housing for Syrian people.  Refugees have resorted to building makeshift shelters from plastic sheeting and pieces of wood.

ActionAid will be supporting some of the most vulnerable refugees in Lebanon, like Nessrine and her family, through livelihoods programmes which will help refugees to support themselves.  

>> Donate to the Syria Crisis Appeal