The aid crisis for Syrian refugees

A tent at a refugee camp in the north of Iraqi Kurdistan (Demotix/Enno Heidtmann)

As I write, Russian air bombardment in Syria is pushing even greater numbers  of middle class and skilled Syrians to try to escape
the country. This new displacement is marching directly to Europe via smugglers
because legal mechanisms to request asylum in the region are extremely limited,
considered dangerous by some, or have become extraordinarily long, bureaucratic
processes which take years to be completed, something that few can tolerate. 

The unspoken British humanitarian aid policy of
‘containment’ of the refugee crisis in the Syrian region is the sister of the
policy espoused so clearly by Theresa May of keeping refugees out of the UK and
Europe. However, the effort to keep refugees from Syria contained in the
immediate neighbouring states is proving simply unsustainable.

Although much has been reported of the UK’s large donations to the United
Nations (UN) for Syrian refugees, pledges to the UN are generally not being
fully honoured and the UN system is seeing a dramatic shortfall in actual funds
earmarked for humanitarian assistance. UNHCR figures show that over 4 million
refugees from Syria have registered with the host state or the UNHCR (2.1
million in Egypt, Northern Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon as well as 1.9 million in
Turkey). The total appeal by the United Nations is for $4,533,248,258 to
provide assistance (survival with dignity) for those Syrians who have registered.
To date only $1,839,058,956 has been received by the UN leaving a GAP of
$2,694,189, 302. Pledges have not matched actual donations and the UN is
experiencing a 59%
shortfall. 

This immediately translates into deep cuts on assistance,
either in kind or by cash transfer. Those 
Syrians who have been receiving assistance in the region now face seeing
what little they were receiving cut back even more. In Jordan this now
translate into $13.50 a month for a family of six.

The World Food Programme has been forced to cuts its cash
assistance several times in the past year due to lack of funds.  The other UN Agencies preference for in-kind
assistance (food aid as well as blankets, hygiene kits, and so on) comes at
great expense. It is estimated
that nearly 55-60% of every aid dollar goes to overheads at the level of the UN
Agencies (40%) and at the national NGO level (20%). 

Assistance in kind is generally the ‘wrong’ kind’ and many
refugees sell these items in order to purchase what they know their families
need. This buying and selling economy is poorly understood by humanitarian aid
practitioners who see this market as a sign that the refugees do not appreciate
what they are given. In fact, the refugees know better than the aid practitioners
what their families need. A wholesale move to cash transfer as the preferred
form of assistance in this humanitarian crisis of a population from a middle-income
country would see a massive improvement in lost funds due to excessive overhead
charges, and local corruption. Furthermore it would recognize the agency of
refugees to determine what their family needs really are in order to be fed,
clothed and looked after. 

With no possibilities to work legally and totally inadequate
support to refugee families, more will make the decision to leave the
neighbouring host counties and search for anchors with their dispersed family
or social network. Germany and Sweden will remain the two most popular target
end points in this onward forced migration. Furthermore, Russian air
bombardment in Syria is now pushing  even
greater numbers of middle class and professional Syrians – able to pay
smugglers – out of the country and directly on to European soil in an effort to
save the lives of their family members 
from government barrel bombs and Russian aerial attacks. 

No one knows exactly how many refugees from Syria have
refused to register in the neighbouring host countries. In Lebanon, it is
estimated that as much as 50% of those Syrians in the country have refused to register
and access assistance for fear that their personal information might somehow
find its way back to the Syrian intelligence services. Many fear being unable
to return to Syria one day if the Asad government remains in power. This is
especially true for Palestinian refugees from Syria who have found a temporary
‘ safe haven’ in Lebanon. These unregistered refugees are among the first to
move onwards towards northern Europe when conditions locally become intolerable,
that is, no longer capable of supporting family life.  

Without a massive re-thinking of how aid is delivered and
distributed, refugees in the region are going to look for ways to leave. The
very least that they require is survival in dignity, a basic concept promoted
by the United Nations Agency for Refugees (UNHCR). This encompasses basic
health care and access to education for children, youth and vulnerable family
members. As neither Lebanon or Jordan have signed the 1951 Refugee Convention,
neither country is obliged to ‘protect’ refugees, that includes providing basic
health and education services as well as not returning them to the country
where they faced persecution.  

In Lebanon, government health care is limited and many
Lebanese do not have access to public health. The increased Syrian refugee
population (5% of the total population of that country) cannot access
government services. They are forced to rely on international NGO assistance
which currently is not adequately funded to provide assistance to 1.1 million
registered refugees. 

In Jordan, a much improved health system is able to more
adequately cater to the health needs of refugees from Syria. With approximately
600,000 registered Syrian refugees, they represent only about 10% of the total
population of the country. However, even in Jordan the burden of providing
health care has become unmanageable as international assistance has dwindled or
failed to be transferred to the Ministry of Health. Currently Syrian refugees
are expected to cover 60% of their health care bill. Without access to legal
employment, this is a burden that displaced Syrians cannot meet.

In Turkey, the duty of provision of healthcare and education
to displaced Syrians has been formally recognized by the state and a temporary
protection regime has been put into place for refugees from Syria including
Palestinian refugees. All Syrians who registered by the state can access health
care. The Syrian refugee population of nearly 2 million is heavily concentrated
mainly in the south east of the country, where Turkey operates 25 refugee camps
(5* camps according to International Crisis Group reports) for approximately
250,000 Syrians where health care and education services  operate 
effectively. These camps have waiting lists of Syrians for places inside.
Syrians not in camps do not receive assistance other than access to health care
and some educational opportunities.   

Increasing number of refugees from Syria are being squeezed
into moving on or, failing to find other avenues for survival, they are returning
to Syria despite the heightened danger to life. In both Lebanon and Jordan, the
state is imposing draconian measures on refugees from Syria to effectively ‘refoul’
[return] displaced Syrian. Two weeks ago, Andrew Harper, the head of UNHCR in
Jordan admitted that they were seeing 200
Syrians return to Syria each day from Jordan. Others are making their way
from Jordan via Syria to Turkey and then searching for routes to northern Europe
where they hope to be able to find ways of surviving in dignity.  

Can we really blame these displaced and dispossessed people
from moving on in the search for survival? Can we really consider ourselves a
civilized nation when we allow such persecution to continue contravening our
intent when we as a nation agreed to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status
of Refugees?

Syrians displaced by the crisis are struggling to feed their
families. As the crisis is prolonged – and Russia’s active entry into the armed
conflict suggests that the civil war will now drag on for another 4-5 years –
families are exhausting their savings. Being unable to access the basic
requirements of life, many refugees are being failed by the international
humanitarian aid system.