Syrians refugees face restrictions in Jordan, as UN cuts aid

Reporting by Faris Al Rifai; Editing by Yusra Ahmed

(Zaman Al Wasl)- The United Nations World Food Programme "WFP", has on 9th October,2014 ceased food monthly voucher programmes for 12 thousand Syrian households in Jordan, claiming those families have enough income, besides shortage of fund and budge of “WFP”.

The total number of people deprived from aid reached to 36 thousand Syrians.

As a response, activists launched an initiative to know the real reason behind the decision, besides showing the real situation for each family deprived from the aid and encourage them to appeal against the decision. The initiative would include counting the family and evaluate their situation by visiting them, then grouping them by priority to request helping those family by aid and relief and humanitarian organisations in Jordan as soon as possible.

In their meeting with jonathan campbell, WFP Emergency Coordinator in Jordan, activists found out that 36 thousand households deprived from the monthly vouchers, and the number is expected to increase according to particular criteria the organisation follows.

In the meeting, activists managed to guarantee rights to appeal against the decision via a form distributed by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees “UNHCR”. People need to fill in the form to show their special circumstances, and hand it back with supporting documents to “UNHCR” or other offices of “WFP”

The appeal's decision would be sent via a small Message service “SMS”, decision could take a month at most, in which people would be told if their appeal was successful or not

Activist and poet Abo Omar al-Fawaara, one of the initiative’s organiser, confirmed to Zaman al-Wasl that World Food Programme "WFP” was positive in dealing with their initiative, and representatives promised of cooperation and support in matters of Syrian people in the future.

Al-Fawaara reported that "WFP" follow particular criteria to cut food vouchers, like people with higher education or those receive money from relatives or have jobs.

“WFP’s representatives claimed that shortage of fund and many countries delayed the support, beside that, we were shocked to know that Gulf countries do not participate in fund for the programme”

Dr. Awad al-Solaiman, considered the decision of the United Nations World Food Programme “WFP” as part of the immoral attitudes of the United Nations “UN’, America and other western Countries, as they kept silent for Bashar al-Assad’s crimes against civilians when they rejected transferring the Syrian file from the Security Council to the General Assembly, which could’ve forced Bashar to stop his crimes.

Dr, Solaiman wondered angrily: “how Syrians would afford for their food, if they are not allowed to work in Jordan, and now they have been deprived of food vouchers, they have no option but to go to al-Za’atari, the camp of humiliation”

Dr. Solaiman thinks that UN and Western countries aim to make Syrian crisis as a lesson to teach to other Arabs and any people want to revolt to see what disaster they would reach to.