13 Mar 2013

JORDAN / SYRIAN REFUGEES

Jordan is now home to nearly 400,000 Syrian refugees, most of them living in small villages or towns, without work or money. According to UNHCR, their numbers will continue to grow.

Posted at: March 13, 2013 2:57 pm

Duration: 02:40

Available in: SD, HD

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Full script

STORY: JORDAN / SYRIAN REFUGEES
TRT: 2.40
SOURCE: UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ARABIC / NATS

DATELINE: 22-23 FEBRUARY 2013, JABER, JORDAN, NEAR THE JORDANIAN - SYRIAN BORDER

SHOTLIST:

1. Wide shot, border wall between Jaber, Jordan, and Nassib, Syria.
2. Wide shot, border wall, with children hanging around
3. Wide shot, children sitting by a brick wall near the border wall, with a sheep eating grass
4. Wide shot, border wall, with bus travelling down the road
5. Wide shot, Muhey Alnawawi, a Syrian refugee, and family sitting on the grass. He plays with his child.
6.  Muhey Alnawawi kissing his child
7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Muhey Alnawawi, a Syrian refugee:
"Syria used to be a very safe country before the conflict. We hosted Iraqi and Lebanese refugees there. We never thought that we would become refugees ourselves, like them."
8. Wide shot, Muhey Alnawawi leaving house
9. Wide shot, Muhey Alnawawi unlocking garage door
10. Wide shot, Muhey Alnawawi opening garage door
11. Wide shot, Muhey Alnawawi piling mattresses on a stack
12. Wide shot, Ahmed Abdul Fatah, a Syrian refugee, boy looking out into the distance, while on a roof with another boy
13. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ahmed Abdul Fatah, a Syrian refugee boy:
"I can watch the air strikes, the bombing and attacks from here. Sometimes they go on all night. We also can see the refugees escaping."
14. Wide shot, little girl sitting outside eating chips
15. Wide shot, man and girl sitting outside
16. Wide shot, Muhey Alnawawi, outside, walking while talking on phone
17. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Muhey Alnawawi, a Syrian refugee:
"I arrived 15 months ago. I'm an old refugee here. When a family arrives without a man, I volunteer to help them to sign up for aid at charity organizations. I know them all, and they trust me. Then I decided to make a list with all the names of the refugees in Jaber."
18. Muhey Alnawawi approaching Fatima Al-Raady's door
19. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Fatima Al-Raady, a Syrian refugee:
"We were targeted by barrel bombs, we just waited for our death, but it never came. We left our houses to hide outside to avoid the falling bombs. We spent the nights in the streets looking for shelter."
20. Wide shot, children outside the house, by the window
21. Wide shot, children on the street playing with a spare tire
22. Wide shot, boy carrying another child on his back
23. Wide shot, children playing with spare tires on the street at night

STORYLINE:

A concrete wall marks the border between the villages of Jaber, Jordan and Nassib, Syria.

Once the residents crossed this border freely. They shared grazing fields.

Now the wall signals sanctuary, and holds a war at bay.

Muhey Alnawawi owned a shop in Nassib, Syria. His wife is from Jaber, Jordan. When the fighting started in Syria, they fled and found safety here.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Muhey Alnawawi, a Syrian refugee:
"Syria used to be a very safe country before the conflict. We hosted Iraqi and Lebanese refugees there. We never thought that we would become refugees ourselves, like them."

The village here offers shelter and peace.

It is a hard life in a poor village, but this is a welcoming community. Residents share what little they have with their destitute neighbors from behind the wall.

They also share a war just a few kilometers away.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ahmed Abdul Fatah, a Syrian refugee boy:
"I can watch the air strikes, the bombing and attacks from here. Sometimes they go on all night. We also can see the refugees escaping."

More than 500 Syrians now live precariously in Jaber, Jordan. Among them, Muhey has found a special role.

His phone rings constantly. Syrian refugees besiege him, pleading for help.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Muhey Alnawawi, a Syrian refugee:
"I arrived 15 months ago. I'm an old refugee here. When a family arrives without a man, I volunteer to help them to sign up for aid at charity organizations. I know them all, and they trust me. Then I decided to make a list with all the names of the refugees in Jaber."

Fatima Al-Raady is on that list. The war killed her husband, and left her a single mother with six children.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Fatima Al-Raady, a Syrian refugee:

"We were targeted by barrel bombs, we just waited for our death, but it never came. We left our houses to hide outside to avoid the falling bombs. We spent the nights in the streets looking for shelter."

Jordan is now home to nearly 400,000 Syrian refugees. And most live in small villages or towns, without work or money.

Nearly 400,000 refugees. This is the weight and strain of war in a small neighboring country. And their number will continue to grow.