OXFAM BRIEFING NOTE 30 APRIL 2013

Rania, a refugee in Lebanon, is awaiting registration. She lives in one room with five of her children, all boys; two daughters are in
Jordan, and one in Syria. Photo: Luca Sola/Oxfam

OVERTAKEN BY NEED
The worlds failure to meet Syrias escalating humanitarian
crisis

The human cost of Syrias conflict has risen beyond all expectations. In January,
the UN predicted 1.1 million refugees by June. This April, there are already 1.3
million. Inside Syria itself, 6.8 million people struggle in urgent need of assistance.
As the numbers grow, however, the money to help some of those refugees and
displaced people is running out. UN appeals have received only half of what they
sought to help far fewer people than they now need to assist.
The world has failed to find common purpose to end Syrias brutal conflict.
Shamefully, it has also failed to provide enough aid to help the conflicts most
vulnerable victims. Without a massive increase in aid now, millions of Syrians will
miss out on the food, water, shelter and medical care that they desperately need.
Donor governments both in the region and the OECD must urgently give more
aid now, and be ready to give more as needs increase further and, tragically,
Syrias humanitarian crisis continues for some time.

www.oxfam.org
INTRODUCTION
Few humanitarian crises are as avoidable and tragic as Syrias. The wilful There are promises
actions and inactions of many have turned an apparently stable country into a and promises, but we
humanitarian disaster in two years. get nothing. My family
is living on bread and
It will not be over until the great powers of the region, and of the world, unite to oil.
Fatima,1 a refugee in
press all sides for peace. The worlds failure to do so over two bloody years is Lebanon, April 2013
now shockingly compounded by the failure to provide sufficient funding soon
enough for the humanitarian response.

Money is never enough. Ending the violence is more urgent than ever before. In April 2013,
And overcoming the obstacles to get aid to those cut off through obstruction and members of the UN
violence is fundamentally vital, by facilitating unimpeded access for aid Security Council
organizations to affected people inside Syria and the provision of greater urged all parties to
humanitarian assistance across borders. ensure safe and
unimpeded access
But the absolute minimum the world must do urgently now is simply to fund the for aid organizations
in all areas of Syria,
humanitarian aid needed by millions of Syrians, caught between war and want, in
called for the urgent
their homeland and in neighbouring countries. That is the passionate call that removal of
Oxfam hears from the refugees it is working with in host communities, camps bureaucratic and
and gatherings across Lebanon and Jordan. other obstacles; and
underlined the need
In January 2013, the UN asked the worlds governments to fund the combined to facilitate
refugee and Syria appeals for $1.5bn (now updated to $1.6bn) at a Pledging humanitarian
Conference in Kuwait. According to UN figures, the combined Syria and Refugee assistance in the
appeals are no more than 52 percent funded, even after Kuwait and others made most effective ways
substantial new donations in mid-April new donations that provided a including when
breathing space only, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. 2 appropriate across
borders in
The UNs twin Syria appeals to cover humanitarian needs inside Syria and to accordance with
support Syrian refugees in the region are still woefully underfunded. Although guiding principles of
humanitarian
some governments are giving large amounts outside the appeals, the lack of
assistance.
transparent information means that it is very difficult to know who is getting
UNSC press elements on
assistance, where aid is being duplicated, and how to channel aid to reach those Syria, 18 April 2013
most desperately in need of food, water, sanitation and shelter, regardless of
ethnicity, faith or political affiliation.
The needs are
All the while, more Syrians flee their country, and their need for vital assistance growing while our
increases. Lebanon, which, along with Jordan, hosts most of the refugees, has, in capacity to do more is
a remarkably short period of time, received numbers of refugees equivalent in diminishing, due to
proportion to its population to 50 million Syrians arriving in the EU or 30 million in security and other
the US. Without far greater international assistance, that is neither just nor practical limitations
sustainable. within Syria as well as
funding constraints.
Today, the aid effort is shamefully inadequate. Soon, without a massive increase We are precariously
in support, it may be overwhelmed by rising need. close, perhaps within
weeks, to suspending
some humanitarian
support.
Valerie Amos, UN Emergency
Relief Coordinator and the
heads of UN humanitarian
agencies, 15 April 2013

2
RISING NUMBERS AND SPIRALLING
NEED
In the first three months of 2013, the number of Syrian refugees more than
doubled. In January, there were around 500,000. By April, there were more than My house completely
1.3 million in neighbouring countries including Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq vanished. They
and Egypt, 50 per cent of whom were children.3 In March alone, at least 250,000 destroyed the whole
people fled Syria.4 According to some predictions, by the end of 2013, Lebanon area. There is no
house to return to,
could have 1.2 million refugees.5
and no shop to work
Figure 1: Number of refugees from April 2012 to April 2013
6 in.
Jamal, aged 41, a refugee
arrived in Jordan, April 2013.
1400000

1200000

1000000

800000

600000

400000

200000

Source: UNHCR

At the same time, more than 4 million men, women and children are displaced We used to hear the
within Syria itself, among the total of 6.8 million in urgent need.7 They too have bombs and the firing,
fled the conflict and human rights violations by both government and opposition the tanks, grenades
forces that Amnesty International has recorded.8 The numbers fleeing are and the rockets. I
increasing as the violence continues. According to the Syrian Observatory for feared for my
Human Rights, March 2013 was the deadliest month of the conflict so far.9 daughter. We only had
one choice, and that
Those refugees and displaced people may have escaped death, but they face was to leave Syria.
Samira, a refugee in Lebanon,
worsening shortages of basic necessities. Every day, UNHCR registers 7,000 April 2013
new refugees, many of them with nothing but the clothes they are wearing.10
Two-thirds of registered refugees live within local communities.11 Despite their
generous support, the refugees are struggling to live with too little water, high
housing costs, and little money for medical treatment for chronic illnesses. Up to
20 refugees share two or three rooms.12

3
 A house but not a home

Ibrahim, 40, a refugee from Syria, lives in a run-down house in Mafraq, Jordan, with
his wife, five sons between 6 and 12 years old and 13-month-old daughter
Before the war, I used to have a market. I earned money for myself and my
children. A missile destroyed my house. The house got burned and I took my
children out of the country. Living here needs cash and I dont have any. Im
unemployed and unable to work. I have a baby that needs nappies. Im looking for a
house but all cost 150 JDs ($211).

For those living in refugee camps, conditions are also difficult. Every day, more
than 2,000 new refugees reach Zaatari camp in Jordan, which already has more
than 100,000 people. It is overcrowded, and while the facilities are all expanding
with the help of recent funding the rapid increase in refugees is putting pressure
on services. While the current situation is serious, it could soon get worse. The
humanitarian community is operating on minimum funding. Recent funding has
been welcome to ensure that immediate needs are met such as food aid in
Lebanon. However, as the numbers of people affected increase, so do the needs.
In Jordan, for example, cash programmes for refugees in host communities provide
much-needed assistance, but even so, refugee families are falling into debt.

At the same time, Oxfam struggles, with insufficient funds, to help as much as it
aims to. The generosity of its supporters, donations from the public and
institutions alike, enable it to provide vital aid to thousands. But the gap between
what Oxfam can currently do and what it must is one of the greatest Oxfam has
faced. For example, it cannot provide enough latrines for the number of refugees
in its operational areas in Zaatari camp and without more funds, Oxfam will not
be able to retain the temporary latrines it has installed.

Palestinians fleeing Syria face challenges of their own. Many are in overcrowded UNRWA says they
camps for Palestinians in Lebanon, in makeshift houses with poor access to cant give more
basic services.13 According to a recent assessment by UNRWA, the UN agency assistance because
there isnt enough
for Palestinian refugees, half of the households surveyed had insufficient food,
money. There
and only 7 per cent of refugees were working.14 should be more
money. I never
Within Syria, the numbers of people in need are even larger, and growing. An asked UNRWA for
estimated 6.8 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance (more than 4 assistance until now.
million of whom are internally displaced), and access to them has reduced since Zeinab, a Palestinian
February.15 Basic services such as schools, hospitals, and water and sanitation refugee from Syria in Shatila
camp, Lebanon, April 2013.
systems are collapsing.16 Essential medicines are in short supply.17 Outbreaks of
disease such as Hepatitis A and leishmaniasis are increasing.18 Children are facing
yet another year without school. Although the ICRC works extensively with the
Syrian Arab Red Crescent, there are few other international organizations inside
Syria, due to severe restrictions on access by the government, bureaucratic
impediments, and insecurity. Groups of Syrians and local organizations are
working to distribute aid in both government and opposition-held areas, but
capacity is weak (including within the Assistance Coordination Unit of the Syria
National Coalition) and accessing and absorbing financial assistance is difficult.
These challenges have prompted the UN Security Council to call for cross-border
assistance to be provided where appropriate.19

4
UNMET NEEDS AND AN UNFAIR
BURDEN
More than 440,000 Syrians have fled to Lebanon.20 Syrian refugees now make
up more than 10 per cent of its population.21 If a similar proportion had reached
Europe, there would be 50 million Syrian refugees in the European Union, more
than the population of Spain.22 If they had reached the United States, there would
be 30 million in the US, significantly more than the population of Texas.23 In
March, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antnio Guterres, warned of a
real threat to regional peace from the burden that the refugee crisis imposes.24

With Jordan and Turkey, Lebanon has generously hosted most of the refugees For Lebanon, the
fleeing Syria. The strain on all countries is understandably showing. Jordan is Syrian crisis has
poised to declare its northern Governorates (home to most refugees) a disaster become an existential
threat.
zone, and Lebanon has called on other Arab countries to share the burden.26
Antnio Guterres, UN High
Commissioner for Refugees,
Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have in fact 21 March 2013.25
provided substantial funding, though the nature and extent of much of the aid is
unclear as little information is available on where and how the aid is being
delivered. Both the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the League of Arab
States have very limited information on the committed pledges of the Arab and
Gulf countries or the mechanisms through which aid is being channelled. In the
absence of this information, coordination of aid among different aid and relief
agencies is hindered.

In Zaatari camp, for example, there were initially different forms of

accommodation being provided by donors, ranging from various types of tents to
pre-fabricated caravans, which caused much confusion and anxiety among
refugees. This is now being addressed by plans to streamline the
accommodation provided.

In January, the UN asked for $1.5bn (since updated to $1.6bn) to fund its
appeals. Three months on, just over half27 of this money, 52 per cent, has
actually been received. The UNs Syrian Humanitarian Assistance Response
Plan (SHARP) is only 61 per cent funded and the Regional Response Plan (RRP)
is 47 per cent.28

Some governments, of course, have given more than others, with the largest
contributions recorded by the UNs Financial Tracking System coming from
Kuwait, the United States, European Commission, and the UK.29 While some
other countries have also given significant amounts (Japan, Canada and
Germany), the overall speed and size of the worlds donations are a dire
indictment on the international community as a whole. Every donor government
should immediately commit all the funds that they have pledged. They must fully
fund the UN humanitarian appeals urgently now, but also when a new appeal is
launched in the middle of 2013, which should reflect not only the rapidly rising
numbers of people in need, but look ahead to continuing needs for more than six
months at a time.

The UN, OECD, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and Gulf donors should also
coordinate with each other so that everyone knows who is paying, who is
receiving, and that the aid is as effective and impartial as it must be. For while UN

5
appeals are not the only effective mechanisms for delivering aid, all aid must be
delivered in a coordinated and transparent way, so that it reaches those in most
need. This means sharing information on where and to whom funding is given, to
avoid missing people or duplicating efforts, and it means harmonizing aid efforts
to ensure assistance does not create conflict within camps or between refugees
and host communities.

THE ABSOLUTE MINIMUM

In April 2013, William Hague, the British Foreign Secretary, said that the crisis My boy has 6
facing Syrian refugees, and those left inside the country, was heading to be the pieces of shrapnel
worst humanitarian catastrophe of the 21st century so far.30 in his head. He
needs surgery! No-
That may or may not prove to be the case. But it is difficult not to conclude that one is helping us.
the worlds response to Syrias conflict has been the most shameful combination Zeinah, a refugee in
Lebanon, April 2013.
of failure on both the diplomatic and humanitarian fronts.

Both the international community and the Middle East are tragically disunited on
how to end the ever-worsening conflict. They must find common cause on that
before yet more thousands of lives are lost.

That will require a diplomatic breakthrough one urgently needed.

For the millions in need of enough aid, increasing the humanitarian response is
equally urgent. That requires the generosity of governments to give what they
have promised, and much more. It requires not only unimpeded access for aid
organizations to affected people inside Syria, but also the provision of greater
humanitarian assistance across borders. Those that have already given
substantial funding should be applauded, but cannot sit back. The needs
predicted a few months ago have already been exceeded. As the numbers of
people affected by the conflict rise so rapidly, so must the response.

Some governments and humanitarian agencies have done all that they could. Many I do not have an
individuals have acted with enormous courage and commitment to get aid to Syrians answer for those
in need. Syrians I have
spoken to who asked
But by and large the world has sat back and watched Syrias conflict and me why the world
humanitarian crisis escalate out of all proportion to what could have been has abandoned
expected two years ago. them.
Valerie Amos, UN
Emergency Relief
Now is the time to escalate the humanitarian response. Coordinator, 18 April 201331

6
RECOMMENDATIONS
International donors should
Act immediately to ensure that pledges made are delivered as swiftly as
possible, and provide additional funds to meet spiralling needs for both
refugees and host communities and for those inside Syria in government and
opposition-controlled areas alike. These funds should be channelled through a
variety of funding mechanisms including UN, NGO and government.
Take every possible step to encourage the Government of Syria and the Syrian
National Coalition to remove bureaucratic impediments and other hurdles to UN
and INGO access to affected and internally displaced people inside Syria,
including across lines and cross-border from neighbouring countries, to ensure
they receive all the humanitarian aid they need in an impartial and transparent
manner.
Coordinate assistance with the UN response plans and be transparent in the
targeting of humanitarian funding. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
must play a role in facilitating coordination between the Gulf donors and the
UN.
The League of Arab States must urge all Arab countries that have pledged to
the Syrian Crisis response to be transparent and to share information about
their commitments and the mechanisms for fulfilling their pledges.
Ensure that funding is impartially driven by needs, irrespective of who has
them, or who controls the territory where they live. Donor governments must
not prioritize one group over another.
Ensure that funding does not focus exclusively on one refugee group; the
needs of Syrian and Palestinian refugees, and Lebanese returnees must be
met equitably, as well as those of people unregistered or waiting to register.
Ensure that flexible, longer-term funding is available to enable aid agencies to
plan and prepare effectively to meet the growing and changing needs of men,
women and children affected by the crisis, including the need for sustainable
livelihoods options.

7
NOTES

1 The names of refugees quoted in this paper have been changed to protect individuals.
2 http://www.irinnews.org/Report/97877/Promised-aid-funding-for-Syria-reaches-half-way-point
3 UNHCR estimates 1.3 million persons of concern and 1 million refugees,
http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/regional.php and UNHCR, Inter-agency regional response
for Syrian refugees, 1420 March 2013.
4 Norwegian Refugee Council (2013), Syria Refugee Response, 9 April 2013:
www.nrc.no/syriaresponse
5
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2013/Apr-19/214298-lebanon-projects-12m-
syrian-refugees-in-country-by-end-of-year.ashx#axzz2RBEsw8iu
6 UNHCR: http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/regional.php as of 11 April 2013. These figures
are estimates; they include registered and unregistered refugees.
7 http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/number-of-syrians-in-need-rises-to-68-million-un-aid-chief/
8 Amnesty International, Syria: Government bombs rain on civilians, and Syria: Summary
executions and other abuses by armed opposition groups, 14 March 2013, both available at
www.amnesty.org
9 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21995400
10 UNHCR, Inter-agency regional response for Syrian refugees, 14-20 March 2013.
11 Ibid.
12 Oxfam, Integrated assessment in Host Communities: Emergency Food Security and
Livelihoods; Water, Sanitation and Hygiene; Protection, March 2013.
13 UNRWA needs assessment, February 2013.
14 Ibid.
15 OCHA, Security Council Briefing on Syria, 18 April 2013,
https://docs.unocha.org/sites/dms/Documents/USG%20Amos%20Security%20Council%20on%
20Syria%2018%20April%202013%20CAD.pdf
16 OCHA, Humanitarian Bulletin, Syria, 518 March 2013.
17 Ibid.
18 Ibid.
19 UNSC Elements to the Press, 18 April 2013.
20 Norwegian Refugee Council (2013), Syria Refugee Response, 9 April 2013:
www.nrc.no/syriaresponse
21 Based on World Bank population data, http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL. If
unregistered refugees were included, a far higher % would be true.
22
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&language=en&pcode=tps00001&table
Selection=1&footnotes=yes&labeling=labels&plugin=1
23 http://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/dc10_thematic/2010_Profile/2010_Profile_Map_Texas.pdf
24 Washington Post, 22 March 2013, quoted in Norwegian Refugee Council (2013), Syria Refugee
Response, 9 April 2013: www.nrc.no/syriaresponse
25 Huffington Post, 22 March 2013: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/22/antonio-guterres-
syria-crisis-lebanon_n_2934857.html
26 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/lebanon-calls-for-help-in-dealing-with-
massive-influx-of-syrian-refugees-8552211.html
27 UN FTS, http://fts.unocha.org plus funding information yet to be announced and recorded on
the FTS tracking.
28 https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0AusGu5uwbtt-
dEp0eHRzcWdVd2hBQmpBVWwxUHRjcUE&single=true&gid=0&output=html
29 http://fts.unocha.org as of 13 April 2012.
30 William Hague (2013), Prospect Magazine foreign affairs event, London, 15 April 2013,
http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/blog/william-hague-prospect/

8
31 OCHA, Security Council Briefing on Syria, 18 April 2013, op. cit.

9
 Oxfam International April 2013

This paper was written by Lara El Jazairi. Oxfam acknowledges the assistance
Ebenezer Kumi, Claire Seaward and Edmund Cairns in its production. It is part
of a series of papers written to inform public debate on development and
humanitarian policy issues.

For further information on the issues raised in this paper please e-mail
[email protected]

This publication is copyright but the text may be used free of charge for the
purposes of advocacy, campaigning, education, and research, provided that the
source is acknowledged in full. The copyright holder requests that all such use
be registered with them for impact assessment purposes. For copying in any
other circumstances, or for re-use in other publications, or for translation or
adaptation, permission must be secured and a fee may be charged. E-mail
[email protected].

The information in this publication is correct at the time of going to press.

Published by Oxfam GB for Oxfam International under ISBN 978-1-78077-315-5

in April 2013.
Oxfam GB, Oxfam House, John Smith Drive, Cowley, Oxford, OX4 2JY, UK.

OXFAM
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