Jordan: Food insecurity among refugees reach record highs 10 years into the Syrian crisis
Syrian refugees in Jordan are facing the worst food insecurity situation since they came to Jordan 10 years ago. In 2021, a quarter of refugees living in Jordan are food insecure, while 65% are on the edge of food insecurity, a stark increase since the pandemic started.
With containment measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 and the associated loss of informal work opportunities, it is difficult to find any work and so the most vulnerable families are being pushed further into poverty, making it difficult to put food on the table every day. This is the case for more than 664,000 Syrian refugees in Jordan
Syrian refugee families struggle to make ends meet
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) supports more than half a million refugees in Jordan — the majority being Syrian — with monthly cash assistance based on vulnerability status.
Aisha, her husband, and three children, are Syrian refugees living in Irbid, a city in northern Jordan and the third largest in terms of Syrian refugee population. They are classified as very vulnerable so each family member receives JOD 23, around US$34, per month from WFP to help them cover their food needs. However, despite this assistance, they can barely make ends meet as they do not have the money to meet the costs of other essential needs like rent, utilities and healthcare.
The lowest point for Aisha was when they did not have bread for three consecutive days. “I woke up knowing I didn’t have anything to feed my children. I was in so much pain, but I did not say a word to my neighbours because I did not want them to think that I am begging for money.”
The situation is similar for Ahmad and Rudaina, who are amongst the 120,000 Syrians living in the two Syrian refugee camps in Jordan, Azraq and Zaatari. WFP also supports residents with JOD 23 per month per person to meet their food needs.
“As a family, we receive JOD 92 per month — some US$130 — and this is only enough to cover the cost of food for the first half of the month,” says Ahmad, who lives in Azraq refugee camp with his wife and two young children.
“I am constantly worried about where our next meal will come from, putting food on the table has never been so difficult before. Everything is getting more expensive,” says Rudaina, a widowed single mother in Zaatari refugee camp and the sole provider for her 13-year-old son Khaled, her disabled mother and elderly uncle.
Parents skip meals so their children can eat
Like many families, Aisha, Rudaina and Ahmad are forced to limit the number of meals their families eat per day. Most prepare two meals; they try to stay full by having a late breakfast and a second meal late in the afternoon.
“I cook for my children and I do not eat. They ask me why and I tell them that I am not hungry, or that I ate at the neighbour’s”, says Aisha, who sometimes sleeps hungry so her children can eat the food she cooked, which is usually not enough for five people.
Ahmad shares Aisha’s fear of being unable to provide food for his children. “As adults, we can manage our hunger, but it is hard to ask my children to eat less,” he says. More than half the refugee families say they were eating less to prioritise their children, a staggering increase compared to only 3% in camps and 15% in communities in 2019.
School closures and the associated suspension of WFP’s School Feeding Programme which provided a daily snack, including a savoury pastry, a piece of fruit and a cucumber to 30,000 Syrian refugee students living in camps throughout the school year have further exacerbated the situation; families now need to provide one more meal for their children. Ahmad says his children crave the fruits they used to receive as part of their meal at school, but due to the rise in prices and limited job opportunities, he cannot afford any.
Pandemic continues to push families further into debt
According to WFP studies, eight in ten refugees living in communities reported reduced income because of the pandemic. Aisha, for example, used to cook and sell home cooked meals for her neighbours in Irbid, “but now people are afraid of the virus, so they stopped ordering food from me”, she says. Over 100,000 refugees rely totally on WFP for their household income. As an average across all families, WFP assistance now makes up 59 percent of the family income.
Carrying increasing debt — the average family in the community now has debts of around JOD 850, some US$1,200, mainly to local traders and in unpaid rent. Aisha owes JOD 800 to supermarket owners, bakeries and friends and says she has no idea how to repay them.
As for Ahmad and his wife, the pandemic left them both jobless. Before it started, they supported themselves through ad hoc daily labour jobs; Ahmad worked as a security guard and an English instructor, while his wife worked as a hairdresser. Now, they rely completely on WFP’s monthly assistance.
When assistance depletes towards the end of the month, Ahmad says that he takes loans from supermarkets run by refugees in the camp, “they are understanding, but I feel ashamed. I was never in debt before the pandemic hit”. His biggest worry is not being able to pay back the JOD 450 (US$635) he owes to the informal market owners.
Around 85% of Syrian refugees living in Zaatari and Azraq refugee camps in Jordan have taken on debt, Rudaina however, refuses to do so; she was forced to sell her heater in return for some much-needed money. But now, she and her family are struggling to keep warm this winter.
Tough decisions with no end in sight
Every day, Aisha is forced to make difficult choices, and one that haunts her is pulling her eldest son out of school to work and help support the family. To this day, she is overwhelmed with guilt, but explains that with her husband’s disability and inability to work, they would not have survived if she had not made that decision, “I cannot provide for the family on my own, our debts are rising by the day, but I cannot help but feel as though I ruined my son’s chance for a better future”.
Rudaina also struggled to generate an income, dorcing her to ask her 13-year-old son’s help. “I am devastated that my only child has to work, but there is nothing I can do about it. His income is necessary for us to get by.” He now works at a vegetable shop in the camp and earns around JOD 1 per day, less than US$1.5.
“I feel that us refugees were hit hardest by the pandemic. We are in desperate need of assistance,” says Ahmad. While he is thankful for the support he currently receives, he hopes more can be provided during such difficult times.
As for Aisha, she sees no end in sight, especially without WFP’s assistance, “I look forward to receiving the coupon every month, this money means the world to me”.
