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Feature: Syrian refugees in Jordan face worsening conditions as int'l aid withers

Xinhua, August 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

For Abdullah Salameh, a Syrian refugee now taking shelter in Jordan, a growing reduction in aid he receives from international agencies is likely to increase his suffering.

Salameh, living in Al Zaatari camp in north of Jordan along with his wife and five children, grumbled at the gradual aid decline from agencies, saying that he was forced to look for a job outside the camp to support his family.

He used to receive 30 dinars (42 U.S. dollars) for each member of his family per month from the World Food Program (WFP) to buy food. The volume was decreased to 25 dinars (35 dollars) in 2014 and this year it was downed to 20 dinars (28 dollars) per person per month.

Salameh is one of the more than 600,000 Syrian refugees who were affected by the withering international assistance. The situation is likely to become more difficult as the program said it needs over 40 million dollars to be able to continue providing help to the Syrians in Jordan this year.

To make ends meet, Salameh has managed to get an approval from the authorities to leave the camp for several hours a day.

"I find a job in one of the farms in the area near the camp. I get about 10 to 12 dinars (14 to 17 dollars) per day through collecting tomatoes and other crops," he said.

Like Salameh, many refugees also started to look for jobs for the same sad reason, an employee at an international aid agency working inside the camp told Xinhua.

"They definitely need more aid. The current amount of aid is not enough. There should be more aid to help Jordan and the Syrians in Jordan," said the worker who preferred not to be named.

Refugees inside the camp, get 20 dinars (28 dollars) per person, while many of those outside the camp got only ten dinars (14 dollars) per person a month.

Early this month, WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin called for more aid to the program and urged donor countries to increase assistance to help the displaced Syrians.

At a meeting with Jordanian officials in Amman, she said the program will continue to look for funding and donations to help Syrians in need.

She warned that a reduction in resources and financial aid for the WFP means worsening conditions and decreasing opportunities for the migrants settling in Jordan.

Jordan has repeatedly urged donor community to increase aid, warning that any reduction in aid will have negative consequences on the refugees and host communities.

Over 1.5 million Syrian refugees fled the violence in their country to Jordan since early 2011 to date. Endit