Syrian Refugees

A report from Jordan

Over the last couple of months we’ve heard reports of more and more refugees coming across the border from Syria into Jordan, and latest figures put the number at over a hundred thousand. Many of them are only allowed over the border if they hand over everything they have. Everything except their passport and the clothes they are wearing (even then their shoes and socks are often taken – even from children).

Yesterday we went to distribute goods to Syrian refugees in a slum area near the border where a thousand families have settled. What we saw was heartbreaking:

We talked to a woman with two young children whose husband was executed for going to the protests. We visited a man laying on the ground who showed us the bullet holes in each of his legs.

We went to the home of a man who had been tortured in jail for seven months and talked to his six year old daughter who has a bald spot on her head where she pulled out her own hair in fear when her bus when shot at on the way to the border. I talked to a man whose son-in law was killed by a sniper as they sat in front of their house.

We saw homes with almost NOTHING inside them. One was totally empty except for a cardboard box on the ground for people to sleep on. They arrive with literally nothing but the clothes on their backs. We were able to deliver simple mattresses, blankets, diapers, small cookers with propane bottles, a bed for the man who had been shot in both legs etc. By all accounts the need is overwhelming. There are a thousand families in this area alone, and they have almost nothing.

If you would like to help, we are still hoping to collect $3000 to donate towards mattresses, propane tanks for cooking and other basic necessities.

If you’d like to donate click here.