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The UAE's 5-Star Syrian Refugee Camp in Jordan

(Foreign Policy) Neri Zilber - Jordan's newest camp for Syrian refugees, known as the Emirates-Jordan Camp (EJC), opened in April. Located near Zarqa, an hour's drive north of Amman, the United Arab Emirates-funded camp is a marvel of humanitarian work. If there is such a thing as a "five-star refugee camp," international aid workers and refugees agree, this was it. Rising out of Jordan's vast eastern desert is row upon row of identical white prefabricated caravans (trailers) instead of tents, laid out neatly at equal distances. At the EJC, large prefab hangars serve as television rooms, while others serve as "pantries" for coffee and tea. An expansive plaza will function as a public commercial space, replete with a stand-alone minaret and a large supermarket selling goods at below-market prices. A hairdresser has already set up shop there. Solar panels provide electricity to each zone of the camp, a battery of water tanks connected to underground plumbing offer clean running water, and a playground gives kids a chance to be children again. The camp also has an enclosed school area with room for 4,000 students, and tidy medical facilities staffed primarily by Syrian doctors, refugees themselves. Camp officials weren't shy at pointing out that the standard of living inside their "town" was likely higher than in neighboring Jordanian communities. This is apparently the way the UAE does humanitarian work.
2013-05-24 00:00:00
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