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Syrian refugees tell of "indiscriminate violence"

Joe Costello, Minister of State for Trade and Development, relates the dire tales of massacre and suffering told to him by Syrian refugees when he visited them in Jordan this week.

OVER 200,000 PEOPLE have fled Syria for neighbouring countries since the beginning of violence in their home country. Ireland gave €500,000 in aid to support their plight earlier this year and announced this week that €1.5m more would be pledged from our official Irish Aid programme.

As Minister of State for Trade and Development at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Joe Costello TD visited a refugee camp in Jordan on Monday of this week. The camp is close to the Syrian border and has hosted more than 22,000 Syrians.

He writes here first-hand of the situation for refugees – and what they can tell us about events inside Syria.

Za'atari refugee camp, Jordan
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  • Za'atari refugee camp, Jordan

  • Za'atari refugee camp, Jordan

  • Za'atari refugee camp, Jordan

Images: Department of Foreign Affairs.

BACK IN MARCH, the Irish people, through Irish Aid – the government’s official programme of assistance to developing countries – generously provided €500,000 to meet the needs of civilians who had been affected by the violence in Syria. Tragically, since then, the conflict has intensified and spread across most of the country, resulting in a large scale regional refugee crisis.

Despite conflicting accounts of the situation, what has been obvious is that humanitarian needs have been escalating dramatically.  Today over 2.5 million people are in urgent need of assistance inside Syria and over 200,000 people, mostly women and children, have made the perilous journey across Syria’s borders into neighbouring countries.

In order to better understand how our humanitarian aid can be targeted to reach those most affected by the violence and how Ireland can help bring about a sustainable political solution to the crisis, I decided to pay a visit to the region to learn for myself what is the situation on the ground.

On Monday of this week I travelled to Za’atari refugee camp, about 80 kilometres north of Jordan’s capital Amman and close to the border with Syria. Since it opened in July, more than 22,000 Syrians have sought refuge here. When I arrived the dust whirled into my eyes and the heat beat down. Aoife McDonnell, the UN High Commission for Refugees’ impressive camp coordinator from Cork, told me that some 3,500, many of them children, had made the perilous journey the night before.

“Many believe this is the start of a much larger influx”

In conversation with some of the refugees, they recounted harrowing stories of indiscriminate violence against the civilian population in Syria – including aircraft bombing, shelling and mortars. They reported that there are thousands more refugees waiting to cross the border, which many believe will be the start of a much larger influx.

UNHCR and its partners are racing to meet the needs of the rapidly expanding refugee population in Za’atari. They are urgently pitching more tents and expanding the camp, as well as struggling to provide food, water and health care. With no solution to the conflict in sight, there is also an immediate need to prepare the camp for winter in advance of the drop in temperatures. It was clear to me that the UNHCR are using the limited resources they have, but that this may simply not be enough.

Later in the day I met Jordan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Planning.  Listening to them I was impressed by the generosity of the Jordanian people who have tried to help their neighbours to the very best of their abilities. Jordan is a resource poor country, which already hosted high numbers of Iraqi and Palestinian refugees even before this conflict. They have done so much themselves in receiving and providing for this new influx of refugees but today they are feeling the pressures of this challenge and require the help of the international community.

On this visit I was proud to be able to announce on behalf of the Irish people a further €1.5 million from Irish Aid’s existing funds for refugee support in Jordan and emergency health and humanitarian assistance inside Syria through the UNHCR, the World Health Organization, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Rescue Committee. In addition to this essential life saving support, humanitarian supplies such as tents, mattresses, kitchen sets, water tanks and jerry cans will also be provided from our Rapid Response stocks in Dubai.

During my visit, the Government of Jordan, the aid agencies on the ground, and the refugees themselves, expressed their thanks for the solidarity and generosity of the Irish people in responding to this crisis.  Unfortunately, we continue to hear terrible reports of massacres inside Syria. However, both the humanitarian agencies in the region and Ireland are now in a better position to help alleviate the suffering and act constructively to find the peaceful solution that is so desperately needed.

Read more: Syria – UN chief ‘shocked’ at massacre report>

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    Mute George Harrington
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    Aug 31st 2012, 8:13 AM

    Yes, indiscriminate violence against civilians by ‘rebels’. Killing of farmers harvesting their crops by ‘rebels’, use of members of Christianity as human shields by ‘rebels’, execution of government workers from postal office workers to border guards, summary executions(the BBC calls these executions ‘dispatches’, the word execution does not fit the rhetoric) of captured soldiers by ‘rebels’, discovery of mass graves by government soldiers in Damascus where rebels had been in control. This is Libya all over er again and must not be allowed to happen. Can we hear some more info about these ‘rebels’ please, who are really nothing more than foreign jihadists and terrorists.

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    Mute Jason Culligan
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    Aug 31st 2012, 9:11 AM

    Just like the Irish rebels during the war of independence were a bunch of American-Irish mercenaries?

    Why is it so difficult for people to accept the possibility that some of the rebel forces might actually be Syrians fighting for democracy? The whole world knows that jihadists are also operating there. The jihadists are NOT affiliated with the rebels, merely using the situation to further their own goals.

    Oh and I would seriously enjoy the opportunity to watch those who cry about the rebels to go and actually fight in a war. See how messy and easy it is to kill an innocent bystander or for all your moral integrity to break down. War isn’t like the video games and movies.

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    Mute George Harrington
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    Aug 31st 2012, 9:15 AM

    Jason, if you do a bit of research your will discover that Syrians make up a small fraction of the ‘rebels’. They are a majority of foreigners. Exactly like Libya all over again.

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    Mute Jason Culligan
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    Aug 31st 2012, 9:33 AM

    Why should I take time out to find evidence of someone else’s claims? By all means if you can provide compelling evidence that the Syrians are a minority in the rebels then I will take that into consideration.

    Until then it’s really just constant spouting without anything to back it up.

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    Mute mattoid
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    Aug 31st 2012, 10:12 AM

    @George
    And you don’t think they might also be fleeing from indiscriminate shelling and aerial bombardment of civilian areas by regime forces, the very thing you’re so rabid and vitriolic in your condemnation of the US for?

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    Mute mattoid
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    Aug 31st 2012, 10:16 AM

    At least you’re consistent in your inconsistency…

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    Mute Barry O'Brien
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    Aug 31st 2012, 11:19 AM

    George, I was of much the the view as you for a while but it’s clear now that atrocities are being committed by both sides. Killing innocent civilians by anyone should be condemned, not just one side. It’s a complex situation but the killing of innocents is inexcusable.

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    Mute David Jordan
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    Aug 31st 2012, 2:58 PM

    Yeah atrocities committed on both sides just like Yugoslavia and just like Yugoslavia the world is just going to stand back and let it happen.
    So what if a NATO lead intervention would only happen if it was to NATO strategic advantage if it returns some sort of peace and stability for ordinary Syrians.
    Its very much possible to do the right thing for the wrong reasons but the effect is still the same.

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    Mute Barry O'Brien
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    Aug 31st 2012, 3:27 PM

    David, I’m of the opinion that a NATO intervention will only make things a lot worse. Just look at Iraq. The one thing about Saddam and Assad is that as Ba’athists their pan-Arab views kept sectarianism to a minimum. Syria will explode to even worse levels of violence in a power vacuum created by a foreign intervention.

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    Mute David Jordan
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    Aug 31st 2012, 3:50 PM

    The notable differance between Iraq and Syria being that Iraq was not in open rebellion when it was invaded. No one is suggesting an intervention followed by a swift withdrawal, building a lasting peace would still require years of UN-lead peacekeeping just like in other conflicts around the world.

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    Mute George Harrington
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    Aug 31st 2012, 4:09 PM

    Barry, of course the killings are of both sides, there are even some pro government militias whose actions are questionable. However, when the rhetoric is all pro West and anti Syrian government I feel I must fight that corner. The amount of people I talk to about Libya who think the West was right and Gaddafi was a terrible dictator is mind boggling. Nothing could be further further from the truth.

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    Mute mattoid
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    Aug 31st 2012, 4:58 PM

    @George
    Leaving aside all arguments about the pros and cons of intervention in Libya, can you please explain why you don’t think Colonal Gadaffi was a dictator who used his position to enrich himself whilst oppressing others and committing atrocities (including international terror attacks) in the process? I thought this was pretty much a matter of record?

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    Mute George Harrington
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    Aug 31st 2012, 9:46 PM

    Well Mattoid, what about the witnesses getting paid $4 million each by the US to lie at the Lockerbie trial. They have since retracted the statements.

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    Mute George Harrington
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    Aug 31st 2012, 9:48 PM
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