ZAATARI REFUGEE CAMP, JORDAN // Growing numbers of Syrian refugees are returning to their war-ravaged homeland from Jordan because they cannot survive in exile after drastic aid cuts, cannot afford to pay smugglers to sneak them into Europe or are simply homesick.
The returns, along with the increasing migration to Europe, signal that conditions in regional host countries have become increasingly intolerable, the refugees and aid officials said.
“We stopped getting any aid,” said 47-year-old Adnan, waiting at the UN-run Zaatari refugee camp in northern Jordan to sign up his family for the return bus to the Syrian border, about 10 kilometres away.
The UN refugee agency views the rising number of departures with concern.
“It is a dangerous choice for people to make,” said Andrew Harper, head of the UN refugee agency in Jordan. He said the return of refugees, mainly women and children, to war-torn Syria “signals a failure of the international protection regime”.
More than 4 million Syrians fled civil war in their country, now in its fifth year. Most settled in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, a majority living in urban areas.
Banned from working legally, they depend on aid and odd jobs. Recent aid cuts by underfunded agencies, particularly the World Food Program, have been devastating.
In Jordan, more than half a million urban refugees were hit hardest, while about 100,000 living in camps were not affected by the latest cuts.
Adnan and his family fled their village in the province of Deraa on the Jordanian border – birthplace of the 2011 uprising against Syrian president Bashar Assad – more than three years ago. They settled in Ramtha, a Jordanian town just a few kilometres from Deraa’s provincial capital.
The family of 12 lived on food vouchers, while the two oldest sons sold vegetables to cover the rent of $250. Two months ago, all income dried up. The two oldest sons, their 14-year-old brother and a sister headed to Europe – two are already in Sweden and two are still in Turkey – while the family lost all food aid.
“There is no money,” said Adnan, who plans to follow his children to Europe as soon as possible.
But the journey costs thousands of dollars, and Adnan said he can’t afford to pay for the rest of the family – his mother, his wife, a six-year-old son, two daughters-in-law and two granddaughters.
On Thursday, he waited outside the UN office in Zaatari to register the women and children for return to Syria. He shrugged when asked about the risks of travel in Syria, saying he simply had no choice.
The “check-out” takes place in a complex of trailers on the edge of Zaatari. Refugees fill in Jordanian departure forms and are briefed by the UN refugee agency. The returnees are cautioned about the risks.
“The road to Europe is very difficult,” UN registration officer Qusai Tanash told Adnan’s wife, suggesting it would be safer for the family in Jordan until they can join the others legally in Europe.
“Family reunification takes a long time,” she said, adding that she would stay in Jordan if she could afford it.
Another returnee, 21-year-old Khaled, said he will stay in Syria. “I miss my mother, and I miss my family,” he said. Khaled said Jordanian authorities prevented his mother from entering the country. “If my mother was allowed to enter, I wouldn’t think to go back to Syria,” he said.
* Associated Press