Life in a Lebanon refugee camp - part 1

IN the first of a special two-part report, Iman Riman from SBS Radio's Arabic program speaks with Syrian women and children at the Anout refugee camp in Lebanon.

Life in a Lebanon refugee camp - part 1Life in a Lebanon refugee camp - part 1

Life in a Lebanon refugee camp - part 1

As the focus on Syrians fleeing to Europe has turned to the issues being created in Europe, the personal stories of those escaping Syria often get overshadowed.

Especially, the stories of those caught between Syria and Europe -- in the refugee camps of neighbouring countries like Jordan.

Those countries are stretched to breaking point in trying to cope with the flood of refugees and asylum seekers.

In 2015, Iman Riman from SBS Radio's Arabic program visited one of the refugee camps in Lebanon and listened to the stories of the Syrian women and children there.

This is the first in her two-part series.

Lebanon now has more refugees per capita than any other country in the world.

About one in five people living in the country are refugees from Syria's civil war.

Living conditions in the camps are desperately poor.

Anout refugee camp lies in the middle of the bush in the south-east of Beirut, with tents built to host about 20 Syrian refugee families.

It is a picture of the classic blue tents of a refugee camp, the plastic chairs, portable toilet, outdoor fire for cooking, some utensils and a couple of bicycles.

Amina, Afaf Mary and Khaldiyee are some of the mothers in the camp who talked with SBS.

Amina is from Jisr Ashughour, in north-western Syria, and has been living in the camp for three years.

(Translated)"May God help us out of this situation. I still have family in Syria, my brothers and sister, all. I had nephews killed, with the army, with the rebels ⦠Some are in Turkey. One of my nephews is getting engaged today there. His mum cannot be with him on this happy day."

She says many in the camps experience resentment from some locals whose jobs have gone to people so desperate for work that they accept very low wages.

(Translated)"First, the situation was very bad, having come from your own house where everything was available to a bare ground, tent, where there is no incentive for life, no water, no electricity, nothing. Not many people looked after us. We suffered a lot. We started to work on the land, picking olives, my daughters and I. My husband is sick. He had three heart operations, and he can't work."

Afaf lives with her husband and seven children in the camp.

She fled from Idlib in north-western Syria two years ago and gave birth to a baby boy in the camp.

He has not been registered in Syria because the family cannot afford the $200 registration fee.

Afaf reminisces about the good times in Syria and says the living conditions in the camp are appalling.

(Translated)"Conditions are bad. Everything is poor. I have a sick child with kidney problems. We treat him, we buy him medication, each for 500,000 Lebanese lira. Some welfare organisations help. But there's a lack of water. The situation is very poor."

Khaldiya is a mother with a baby girl who is vomiting as SBS visits.

(Translated) "My daughter is sick -- diarrhoea, vomiting, she can't keep the food in her stomach. We got her medication. My older daughter is sick, too. Her dad took her to the health centre. She hasn't been eating or drinking for three days."

Afaf is also concerned for the girls as they hear about abuse and rape cases.

(Translated) "I have two girls, under the age of 8. Of course, I'm more worried about them. There's no safety. Anyone can come and abuse us. No safety."

Living in the tent in the middle of the bush has its own challenges.

Amina says winter is particularly hard.

(Translated)"Nothing protects in the camp. During winter, we were covered by snow. They had to shovel the snow away. We bought a small wood heater from the market. We used to pick some dry branches and debris from the bush and burn them."

Growing up in the camp means children must travel to the nearby town to go to school.

But Amina says going to school under such circumstances is challenging with the violence, mistreatment and being subject to verbal abuse and humiliation by the Lebanese children.

(Translated) "The kids get rejected -- 'You're no good,' 'You're crying' ... They haven't learned anything now for three years, only very little, no basic education, no care. Even the Syrian kids hit each other, and no-one prevents that at all. There's no one to tell them, 'This is allowed, and this isn't allowed.' We became wary of sending our kids. Every day, we've seen violence in school between the kids. We then have to solve it with each other as Syrian refugee families. Schools shouldn't be like this. And you can't afford a private school. As a labourer, how can you afford a private school and the rest of life expenses?"

Khaldiya agrees.

She says she is concerned because the kids are missing out on education.

(Translated) "The kids have experienced violence at school, so we had to pull them out. They used to fight with each other. We pulled them out. They're not learning now, they're not learning. If I let them go, there will be problems, fighting. My kids used to go to school, but, when they cried, we've been told not to take them back. They don't attend school anymore."

 

 

 


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By Iman Riman


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