The Crisis of Refuge: Efficacy of International Aid in Assisting Syrian Refugees in Jordan

Abstract

Since the start of the Syrian Civil War in April 2011, more than two million Syrians have left the country to seek refuge abroad, settling primarily in Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey. These refugees have the potential to impact the region significantly, putting a strain on countries with already limited resources. To mitigate this impact, hundreds of organizations have responded to the Syrian refugee crisis by providing humanitarian and developmental assistance to the refugees. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze how international organizations are currently providing aid to the Syrian refugees and to identify how this assistance can be improved. The focus on Jordan here is advantageous: Jordan has significant experience hosting refugees, having accepted Palestinian refugees into the country in 1948 and 1967 and Iraqi refugees starting in 1991 and 2003. Looking at how organizations were involved in providing assistance to the Palestinian and Iraqi refugees in Jordan can provide insight into the current challenges organizations face in delivering assistance to the Syrian refugees. To address these challenges, this thesis makes several recommendations as to how international aid can be improved. The goal of these recommendations is to suggest practical means of improving the assistance being provided to Syrian refugees in the context of the Jordanian government‘s current policy towards refugees. This thesis concludes by suggesting ways that Jordan‘s experience hosting refugees can be applied to refugee crises around the world and proposes that refugee conflicts be divided into four phases, with the phase of the conflict helping to determine what type of assistance will most benefit the refugees.