Sunday
(29 July) was an historical day for Iraqi football and for Ammar.
In spite of severe injuries, the 35-year-old man just had to
leave the Jordan Red Crescent hospital so that he could watch
the final match of the Asia cup at a café in downtown
Amman.
Later that night, thousands of Iraqis poured into the streets
of the Jordanian capital to celebrate their national team’s
victory in the final game, held in Jakarta, Indonesia.
“This has proved what the human spirit can achieve despite
all odds,” said Ammar, who has gone through eight surgeries
to reconstruct his right leg. “Our team is made of Iraqis
from all religious and ethnic backgrounds. Today, we are all
Iraqis,” Ammar explained with a wide smile. “This
is a day of unity we have been longing for since the occupation
of our country in 2003.”
The streets of most major cities in Iraq witnessed similar celebrations.
Explosions, car bombs and killings seem to have suddenly stopped.
People had an opportunity to celebrate life and, clearly, they
took it.
Nearly 2 million “externally displaced” Iraqis have
crossed the borders into neighbouring Syria and Jordan over
the last four years. The large increase in the populations of
the two countries (more than 8 per cent for Syria and 15 per
cent for Jordan) has strained the health, education, water and
other systems. The prices of consumer items, real estate and
rents witnessed sharp increases.
Ammar is one of nearly 750,000 Iraqis who have sought refuge
in Jordan from the extreme violence gripping their country.
In an effort to provide assistance to Iraqi refugees in the
two countries, the International Federation is supporting Jordan
and Syrian Red Crescent Societies’ efforts to expand their
health and medical capacities to relieve some of the pressure
exerted on health services. The two National Societies are also
working in cooperation with United Nations agencies, local and
international NGOs.
In April, the International Federation launched an emergency
appeal asking for 18.2 million Swiss francs (15 million US$/11.1
million €) to assist the Syrian Arab Red Crescent and the
Jordan National Red Crescent Societies in providing health and
psychosocial support to 60,000 refugee families in Syria and
40,000 families in Jordan.
The first of 5 new health care clinics is expected to open in
the coming weeks in a poor neighbourhood in Amman where large
concentrations of Iraqis reside. In addition to basic health
services, the urban clinic will offer dental treatment and laboratory
services. It will be able to transfer patients to the nearby
Jordan Red Crescent hospital for more advanced treatment.
Other programmes are already underway by the two National Societies.
In Jordan, this includes a partnership with Médecins
Sans Frontières (MSF) to treat people in need of orthopaedic
treatment, reconstructive surgeries of the face and those suffering
from severe burns. The project aims to treat 50 people every
month before returning them home. All costs of bringing patients
to Jordan, their hotel bills, tickets and other expenditures
are covered by the project.
Ammar, the victim of a double car bombing in Baghdad, has already
gone through eight surgeries to extract shrapnel and plant additional
bones to elongate his leg. “It will take anywhere between
three and eight months for the leg to heal fully,” explained
Dr. Ali, his Iraqi surgeon. “The good news is that he
will be able to walk normally.” Cases are referred to
the project by Iraqi doctors in various parts of the country.
The Syrian Red Crescent has established at least 12 advanced
health clinics in various parts of the country in cooperation
with the UNHCR and other organizations. The clinics offer specialized
medical services such as gynaecology, dental, internal medicine,
neurology, child care, immunization etc. They provide lab services,
x-ray examinations and dispense drugs.
Large numbers of patients flock to the Damascus clinics. Each
clinic receives 150-200 patients every day. “I treat nearly
200 patients with bone problems a week,” explained Dr.
Akram Al-Hasani, bone surgeon at the Saida Zainab clinic. “Many
have gunshot wounds or other old injuries.”
The Red Crescent clinics accept both Iraqis and Syrians for
treatment. “Nearly 70 per cent of the population of this
neighbourhood are Iraqis, the rest are Syrian,” explains
Amer Al-Ali, manager of the Jaramana health clinic, “Both
are welcome to our clinic. We do not discriminate here.”
Costs are minimal if patients can afford to pay. “They
pay 20 per cent of the costs,” adds Al-Ali. “If
they cannot afford payment, we study their social and economic
conditions. Many end up paying nothing”. The most vulnerable
families, who have no bread-winners, may receive financial aid
from the National Society to help them survive.
The plight of Iraqis inside and outside the country and the
size of the population movement (the UNHCR says it is the largest
exodus of people since 1948, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians
left their homes) have lead many international organizations
to increase their assistance to Iraqis in both countries. It
is estimated that 25,000 to 30,000 Iraqis enter Syria alone
every month.
Two major meetings have been held within the last few days in
Amman and Damascus at the invitation of the World Health Organization
(WHO) to coordinate international relief efforts. The Amman
meeting called upon the international community to provide major
assistance to the governments of the two countries to help them
deal with an increasingly volatile situation.
The International Movement of the Red Cross and Red Crescent
was represented in the Amman meeting by a large delegation headed
by Dr. Mohammad Al-Hadid, Chairman of the Standing Commission
and President of the Jordan Red Crescent Society.
Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, the European Union, the United Nations
and the Arab League participated and representatives from Iran,
Turkey, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States and Japan
attended as observers. Participants agreed that the Iraqi refugee
problem will be solved only after peace has returned to the
country.
Ammar will be going back to his country despite the extremely
difficult conditions and the terrible security situation in
Iraq. He has no illusions about how difficult his life there
will be. His country’s football team injected some hope
that sooner or later the good days will be back. In the meantime,
he is enjoying the respite his residency in Jordan has provided
from the violence gripping his country.
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The
Syrian Red Crescent has established 12 advanced health
clinics which offer specialized medical services such
as gynaecology, dental, internal medicine, neurology,
child care, immunization etc. They provide lab services,
x-ray examinations and dispense drugs. Each clinic receives
150-200 patients every day and some 200 patients with
bone problems a week. Many have gunshot wounds or other
old injuries. The Red Crescent clinics accept both Iraqis
and Syrians for treatment. (p16052)
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Nearly
2 million Iraqis have crossed the borders into neighbouring
Syria and Jordan over the last four year (more than 8
per cent increase in population for Syria and 15 per cent
for Jordan). The International Federation is supporting
efforts by the Jordan and Syrian Red Crescent Societies
to expand their health and medical capacities to relieve
the pressure exerted on health services. In April, it
launched an appeal asking for 18.2 million Swiss francs
to assist the two Red Crescent Societies in providing
health and psychosocial support to 60,000 refugee families
in Syria and 40,000 families in Jordan. (p16054)
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The
first of five new health care clinics is expected to open
in the coming weeks in a poor neighbourhood in Amman where
large concentrations of Iraqis reside. In addition to
basic health services, the urban clinic will offer dental
treatment and laboratory services. The Jordan Red Crescent
has also engaged in a partnership with Médecins
Sans Frontières (MSF) to treat people in need of
orthopaedic treatment, reconstructive surgeries of the
face and those suffering from severe burns. All costs
are covered by the project. (p16055)
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Costs
are minimal – only 20 % - if patients can afford
to pay. If they cannot afford payment, their social and
economic conditions are examined and many end up paying
nothing. The most vulnerable families, those who have
no bread-winners, may receive financial aid from the National
Society to help them survive. (p16056)
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News
