Here & Now

Taeuber Discusses Assistance To Syrian Refugees From Jordan

FREDERICA FREYBERG:

MADISON NATIVE, WENDY TAUEBER, IS COUNTRY DIRECTOR FOR THE I-R-C IN JORDAN AND JOINS US NOW BY PHONE. AND WENDY, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US.

WENDY TAUEBER:

THANKS FOR HAVING ME.

FREDERICA FREYBERG:

WELL WE WANTED TO ASK WHEN SYRIAN REFUGEES ARRIVE IN JORDAN, WHAT IS THEIR PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL STATE?

WENDY TAUEBER:

NEW ARRIVALS ARE OF COURSE, OFTEN TRAUMATIZED, SCARED, EXHAUSTED FROM HAVING TRAVELED THOUSANDS OF MILES, HUNDREDS OF MILES. SOMETIMES USING SMUGGLERS TO GET ACROSS IF THEY AREN’T ABLE TO GO ACROSS A REGULAR CROSSING AND MANY OF THEM HAVE CHRONIC DISEASE. SOME COME WITH WAR INJURIES. MANY ARE CHILDREN WHO’VE BEEN SEPARATED FROM THEIR FAMILIES OR HAVE COME ON THE LONG JOURNEY ALONE. ANOTHER POINT ON SYRIAN REFUGEES ARRIVING IS THAT THIS CRISIS IS NOT NEW. THE REFUGEES BEGAN FLEEING TO JORDAN IN 2012 AND MANY HAVE BEEN HERE FOR ALMOST FOUR YEARS. THE MAJORITY OF 600,000 CAME THEN. LEAVING ALMOST EVERYTHING BEHIND AND RUSHING TO A SPACE. NOW, FIVE YEARS INTO THE CONFLICT, THE REFUGEES ARE OFTEN EVEN MORE DESTITUTE THAN WHEN THEY ARRIVED HAVING USED UP ANY SAVINGS, SOLD OFF ANY ASSETS. AND WITH DWINDLING FUNDS COMING FROM THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY AS OTHER CRISES POP UP AROUND THE WORLD. GIVING FROM THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY JUST CAN’T MEET THE IMMENSE NEEDS. AND I ALSO WANT TO NOTE THAT MOST REFUGEES LIVE IN CITIES AND NOT CAMPS. I KNOW THE COMMON IMAGE OF REFUGEES — A PICTURE OF BIG ENCLOSED CAMP FULL OF TENTS. BUT 80% OF THESE REFUGEES LIVE IN CITIES. SO THEY’RE TRYING TO PAY RENT. STRUGGLE TO GO TO SCHOOL AND FIND PUBLIC TRANSPORT JUST AS REGULAR CITIZENS DO.

FREDERICA FREYBERG:

HOW CRUSHING ARE THE NUMBERS OF PEOPLE WHO ARE FLEEING SYRIA TO COUNTRIES LIKE JORDAN? THOSE NUMBERS ARE ASTOUNDING. MORE THAN 600,000 PEOPLE JUST IN JORDAN. HOW CRUSHING IS THAT FOR THE ORGANIZATIONS LIKE YOUR OWN THAT ARE TRYING TO HELP THEM?

WENDY TAUEBER:

IT'S CRUSHING TREMENDOUSLY FOR THE HOST GOVERNMENTS AS WELL AS FOR US. OF COURSE WE’RE HERE TO HELP SUPPORT THE GOVERNMENT. AND JORDAN IS A VERY SMALL COUNTRY. SO 600,000 IS ROUGHLY 10%. A NEW CENSUS WILL BE DONE LATER THIS YEAR. BUT IT’S ROUGHLY 10%. AND IN LEBANON, YOU HAVE 25% OF THE POPULATION IS REFUGEES. YOU CAN ONLY IMAGINE IF THOSE KINDS OF NUMBERS SHOWED UP IN THE UNITED STATES. HEALTH CLINICS WOULD BE CROWDED. SCHOOLS WOULD HAVE TO GIVE MULTIPLE DIFFERENT SHIFTS TO GET ANY CLASSES IN AT ALL. AND SYSTEMS WOULD JUST BE COMPLETELY OVERWHELMED.

FREDERICA FREYBERG:

GIVE ME A SENSE –

WENDY TAUEBER:

IT’S PRETTY HARD TO IMAGINE.

FREDERICA FREYBERG:

GIVE ME A SENSE OF THE KINDS OF HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE THAT YOUR ORGANIZATION OFFERS TO THE SYRIAN REFUGEES IN JORDAN.

WENDY TAUEBER:

THE INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE IN JORDAN PROVIDES A RANGE OF SERVICES. WE DO HEALTH CARE IN CLINICS. AND THEN WE ALSO HAVE CLINICS SET UP IN VANS THAT GO OUT INTO RURAL AREAS SO THAT WE CAN REACH VULNERABLE PEOPLE. THEY CAN BE SYRIAN OR JUST VULNERABLE JORDANIANS WHO MAY ALSO BE OVERWHELMED BY THE REDUCTION IN SERVICES. AND MAYBE THEY HAVE A CHRONIC ILLNESS AND ARE UNABLE TO WALK TO THE NEAREST CLINIC OR FIND A BUS TO COME TO THE BIG CITIES. WE ALSO HAVE WOMEN CENTERS WHERE WOMEN AND GIRLS CAN COME TOGETHER SAFELY TO MEET OTHER WOMEN AND GIRLS. BECAUSE OF SOME SOCIAL NORMS OFTENTIMES WOMEN AND GIRLS ARE MAYBE AFRAID TO LEAVE THE HOUSE. THERE’S HARRASSMENT. THERE’S DIFFERENT PRESSURES FROM BEING DISPLACED. SO BY PROVIDING THESE CENTERS THEY CAN COME TOGETHER. SHARE THEIR EXPERIENCES AND WORK ON REBUILDING SOCIAL NETWORKS THAT HAVE BEEN DESTROYED BY THE WAR. WE ALSO WORK ON PREVENTION AND RESPONSE TO GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE. SO IN THIS CONTEXT WE SEE A LOT OF VIOLENCE RELATED TO GENDER WHICH CAN BE OF COURSE RAPE AND SEXUAL HARASSMENT. THE MOST FREQUENT TYPE WE SEE HERE IN OUR PROGRAM IS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE. AND WE PROVIDE INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP COUNSELING AS WELL AS AWARENESS RAISING ON HOW TO PREVENT IT AND HOW TO RESPOND TO IT.

FREDERICA FREYBERG:

DO YOU THINK THAT AMERICANS UNDERSTAND THE SCOPE OF THE VIOLENCE, DEATH AND DISPLACEMENT BESETTING THE SYRIANS?

WENDY TAUEBER:

I THINK IT’S HARD FOR ANYONE TO IMAGINE. I DO MY BEST HERE JUST ABOUT TWO HOURS FROM THE SYRIAN BORDER AND I CAN’T EVEN FATHOM. SO I CAN ONLY IMAGINE THAT WITH COMPETING NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD AND MANY UNHAPPY HEADLINES FROM DIFFERENT CRISES INCLUDING PLACES CLOSER AND CLOSER TO HOME LIKE THE ATTACKS IN BEIRUT AND THEN PARIS. IT’S REALLY HARD TO UNDERSTAND THAT REFUGEES HAVE BEEN FLEEING THIS KIND OF VIOLENCE FOR THE LAST FOUR YEARS. AND A LOT OF REASONS YOU SEE THE ONWARD MOVEMENT NOW TO EUROPE, OR WISHING TO BE RESETTLED IN U.S. OR EVEN PEOPLE MOVING BACK TO SYRIA IS THE SENSE OF HOPELESSNESS THAT NO ONE HAS RISEN TO THE OCCASION TO PROVIDE THE NEEDED SUPPORT AND PEOPLE JUST DON’T KNOW WHERE TO TURN ANYMORE.

FREDERICA FREYBERG:

I KNOW THAT YOUR ORGANIZATION WANTS THE U.S. TO RESETTLE MORE THAN THE 10,000 SYRIAN REFUGEES THAT THE PRESIDENT HAD PLEDGED. BUT NOW, EVEN THAT MAY BE SLOWED. WHAT IS YOUR REACTION TO THAT RESPONSE ON THE PART OF SOME IN THE U.S.?

WENDY TAUEBER:

WE’RE VERY DISAPPOINTED OF COURSE AND PERPLEXED. I KNOW IT’S HARD NOT TO BE SCARED IN TIMES LIKE THIS. BUT THE FEAR IS SOMETHING WE SHARE WITH THESE REFUGEES. AND I WANT TO REITERATE THEY’VE BEEN FLEEING WAR FOR THE LAST FOUR YEARS. AND THESE AREN’T THE PEOPLE TO BE SCARED OF. THESE ARE THE PEOPLE THAT ARE SCARED WITH US. THEY SEEK A PEACEFUL LIFE. THEY ARE ENGINEERS, TEACHERS, AND DOCTORS. WE HAVE SOME SYRIAN NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS WORKING INSIDE SYRIA BUT MOST DOCTORS HAVE FLED. THERE’S ONLY ONE PSYCHOLOGIST TO TREAT ANYONE IN SOUTHERN SYRIA. YOU CAN ONLY IMAGINE THE MENTAL HEALTH NEEDS THERE. I THINK IT’S IMPORTANT TO TRY TO REMEMBER THESE ARE PEOPLE JUST LIKE US TRYING TO ESCAPE THE SAME TERROR THAT WE ALSO WANT TO AVOID. AND I’M SURE THAT I KNOW THESE MESSAGES HAVE BEEN COVERED IN MANY MEDIA SETTINGS BUT IT’S IMPORTANT JUST KEEP REITERATING THAT REFUGEES ARE THE MOST SECURITY-VETTED POPULATION THAT COME TO THE UNITED STATES. THERE’S NO SCREENING MORE RIGOROUS FOR ANY CLASS OF PEOPLE COMING TO THE U.S. THAN REFUGEES. AND IT TAKES UP TO TWO YEARS AND MULTIPLE SECURITY CHECKS ARE CONDUCTED OVER AND OVER BY A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT SECURITY ORGANS OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT.

FREDERICA FREYBERG:

WENDY WE LEAVE IT THERE. THANK YOU FOR YOUR WORK FROM AMMAN, JORDAN.

WENDY TAUEBER:

THANK YOU.