Saleh Dabbakeh in Amman and Damascus
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 euro) 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.