Our life in the Zaatari refugee camp: no electricity, no space to sleep, no escape
The Zaatari refugee camp
in Jordan was set up in 2011 and is now home to almost 90,000 people
who have fled the war in Syria. One resident describes his life in the
camp, and how his family ended up there
Before the war started in Syria
I was a carpenter in a village in the south of the country, close to
Dara’a. I had a simple life, but a good life. But when the war began,
people stopped wanting to build and spend money on such things, so life
started to become harder.
I have nine children, aged between two and 16. One of my sons was two
and a half when the war started. Every time he could hear bombing he
would get very scared and hide under the covers. He still does this here
in the camp when he sees planes coming over, as he thinks they are
coming to bomb us.
My children haven’t only seen bombing; they have also seen death with
their own eyes. One of my cousins has lost two children, and his
mother, sister and brother, from the bombing. This is why I left: I had
to save my family’s lives.
When we arrived at the Zataari camp in February 2013 it was very cold. At first we were all living in a tent
that used to leak every time it rained. But there was no option. We
either stayed in that tent or took our children to their death.
My wife was about to give birth to twins so it was important to get
more settled before their arrival. I borrowed money from a friend to buy
two caravans for us to live in. Imagine once living in your own house
and now you come home to a caravan where there isn’t enough space to sit
or sleep and no electricity.
I’ve heard that most of the houses in our village have now been
destroyed so there are very few people left. We find out what is
happening back home mostly through a neighbour who sends us messages.
Even though I’m here in Jordan,
whenever I hear news about my homeland I feel as if I am with my fellow
Syrians. What is happening there has affected me deeply.
Syrian children walk through the Zaatari refugee camp. Photograph: Mohammad Hannon/AP
I don’t care about my future, I only care about the future of my
children. I don’t care about anything other than their education. I had
no education so it is too late for me, but it is not too late for them. I
want to encourage them to study. I want my children to have a better
life than the one I had.
We tried to emigrate but I didn’t want to go to Turkey and then onwards from there. I don’t think we would survive the journey.
If I could move directly to another country, I would not stop for a
second, if we ever get such a chance then we will definitely take it. I
actually tried this once, submitting an application to the French
embassy, but they rejected us.
How can we have a normal life here? You can only leave the camp if
you have permission. There are good and bad people here, so it is
difficult to protect your children in this environment. And if anyone
gets sick we have to go and stand in a clinic for hours.
But this is our life now. If I could find a country that would take
myself and my children I would go there without hesitation. I wish that
all the countries of the world would open their doors to Syrian
refugees. More than this, I cannot wish for anything.
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