by John Dagge

19 June 2007

Duma, Syria: For UNV volunteer Ehsan Fteyih, working in the UNHCR Registration Centre in Douma has been a life-changing experience. “From working here and hearing these stories, I have learnt to be more patient, I have learnt to be more flexible, I have learnt not to complain so much,” Ehsan, 27, says in crisp English. “You look at what these people have gone through and you hear their stories each day and you can’t help but be changed by it.”

Ehsan is one of 30 Syrian UNV volunteers working as registration clerks at Syria’s largest registration centre for Iraqis displaced by the violence engulfing their homeland. They are at the forefront of coordinating efforts to help the victims of the Middle East’s most ugly conflict.

When Ehsan heard about the opportunity to assist his neighbour Iraqis who have fled their country for the safety of his own, it was an opportunity he jumped at. “We are really dealing with important matters here and I enjoy that aspect,” he said.  “It has been interesting to see how the UN works to take care of people – to see how the whole process works.”

The conflict in Iraq has produced a largely silent exodus of Iraqis.  An estimated 2 million Iraqis are currently displaced within their country, while another 2 million are believed to have fled to nearby countries such as Syria and Jordan.  The Syrian government believes 1.4 million Iraqis have taken refuge in Syria in the past three years and estimates that 30,000-45,000 people enter the country each month.

The most vulnerable of these cases will turn up at this neat and tidy storage warehouse, 25-kilometres outside Damascus, which now serves as a UNHCR registration centre.  Almost 90,000 refugees have been registered since the centre opened its doors earlier in the year.  Such has been the demand, that Iraqis arriving at the centre to book an interview to register their details with UNHCR face an eight-month waiting period.

In the small white cubicles which line the warehouse walls and serve as makeshift interview rooms, the details of Iraqis who have fled their homeland are registered onto a computer database by UNV volunteers like Ehsan.  They are then put in touch with a number of health, educational, legal and welfare services if required.  The atmosphere is calm, ordered and professional; a stark contrast to the stories the UNV volunteers hear each day.

“You tend to get very emotional,” Carolyn Abdullah, 26, says about her work.  “You see the fear in their eyes.  You see how much they have been hurt.  Sometimes they just cry in-front of you and it’s very difficult.  You can’t help but take your work home with you.”

Her colleague, Salam Hannoun, 30, agrees: “We hear a lot of stories about suffering, a lot of things you don’t read in the newspaper or see on television.  A lot of people coming here have serious health problems, both physical and mental.  It’s a very bad situation.”

Yet despite the emotionally-draining experience of their work, the UNV volunteers are happy to be part of the effort to find a solution for the Middle East’s latest refugee crisis.  “We know the work we are doing here is important,” Carolyn said. “It’s a huge problem, one which many people don’t know about, so we are happy to play a part in the solution.”

Wednesday 20th June is World Refugee Day and a lot of activities will happen in the Registration Centre.  The UNV Programme activity will be to hand out food and drinks to the refugees.

UN Volunteers is the focal point for volunteerism in the UN system.  It pursues distinctive contributions to effective development by advocating the role and benefits of volunteerism, promoting civic engagement in development programmes and mobilizing volunteers.  The UNV Programme in Syria was launched in 1979; since then more than 180 UNV volunteers have been assigned to the country.  UNV volunteers have contributed to development in Syria by building the capacity of government and non-governmental organizations to better plan, implement and evaluate their projects.  Skilled and high-calibre UNV volunteers assist the UN system, the Government, NGOs, bilateral donors and the private sector in development activities as well as humanitarian work.