A review of the humanitarian response to the Syrian refugee crisis in Jordan, 2012-13

The conflict in Syria broke out in March 2011 and has since has massive humanitarian consequences both inside and outside the country. In neighbouring Jordan, by June 2013 some 600,000 people had sought refuge. This prompted a large-scale response to meet the needs of those refugees by the Government of Jordan and by the international humanitarian community. This case study reviews this response.

This paper was based on a field visit undertaken by both authors to Jordan conducted in June 2013, which included visits to MSF projects at the Jordanian Red Crescent hospital in Amman and at the Zaatari refugee camp, as well as a visit to a clinic run by Syrian doctors in the town of Irbid, key informant interviews with members of the humanitarian community (international and Jordanian) as well as a review of reports and documents from MSF and the wider humanitarian community. The reference period under review was from the establishment of the Zaatari camp in July 2012 until the field visit a year later. The case study focuses on the internal workings, decisions and processes of the humanitarian community, and therefore uses a qualitative methodology, aimed at drawing on the insights and judgments of a broad set of actors, rather than a detailed review of quantitative data.