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Jaramana Refugee camp
Jaramana camp is situated 8 kilometres from Damascus
on the road to Damascus International Airport. The camp was established
in 1948 on an area of 30,000 square metres for Palestine refugees. In
1967, Palestinians who had taken refuge in the Golan Heights and were
displaced as a result of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war moved into the camp.
Jaramana’s main problem and concern is the demolition
of shelters by the Government due to construction of a highway to
Jaramana. This also affects UNRWA’s installations; parts of the
community centre, health centre, sanitation office, the newly installed
sewerage network, urban development projects and schools have been
vacated. Moreover, a large number of refugee families were moved from
Jaramana camp and relocated either to the nearby new government housing
project at al-Husseineh or in shelters in the nearby villages and camps.
Many of the refugees are street vendors, while others
work in nearby industrial plants. Some inhabitants find work in the
informal sector through collecting garbage for recycling. The majority
of women are domestic workers in Damascus to supplement family income.
Registered refugees:
- Total: 18,740 (December 2008)
- Average family size: 4.7 members
- Camp population by age:
| Age: |
0-5 |
6-15 |
16-25 |
26-45 |
46-60 |
Over 60 |
| Number of Refugees: |
2409 |
3538 |
3729 |
5495 |
1798 |
1771 |
UNRWA Education Programme
- Schools: 6 double-shifted schools, operating in 3 school
buildings.
- Staff: 95
- Pupils: 2,358
After the construction of the highway through Jaramana and the
demolition of numerous refugee shelters, there is a constant reduction
in the number of pupils in Jaramana’s schools. Therefore, there are no
plans to reconstruct them.
UNRWA Relief and Social Services Programme
- Food distribution centre: 1
- Social safety net (SSN) programme beneficiaries: 1627
individuals (528 families) receive 1428 daily rations
UNRWA Health Programme
- Health centre: 1
- Number of medical staff: 12
- Number of patient consultations per month: 4164
UNRWA Microfinance Programme
- Number of loans disbursed to Palestine refugees: 177
- Total value of loans: 5,090,000 SYP (101,800 USD)
- Percentage of Palestine refugees of total clients of the branch:
5 %
Major Problems:
- A large number of refugees whose shelters were demolished have
not yet received compensation
- Most of the relocated refugees now live in rented houses, which
worsens their already bad economical situation
- The practice of girls marrying at an early age is widespread
- Divorces at a young age are commonplace
- A decrease in the level of general education in the camp
- Most of the refugees in the camp collect plastic for recycling,
searching through garbage, which exposes them to numerous diseases.
Moreover, they use their shelters to store the collected plastic
garbage, which endangers the health of their family members.
- Most of the shelters in Jaramana are in need of reconstruction
and upgrading. A large number of shelters only have wooden roofs,
which makes them exposed to extreme cold during the winter.
- Non-availability of loan programmes for household improvement,
education, urgent health issues or the establishment of
income-generating projects.
- Problem of marriage between relatives which leads to the spread
of a number of diseases, most commonly thalassaemia and sickle-cell
anaemia
- High unemployment rate
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