{"id":1872,"date":"2020-09-07T14:50:13","date_gmt":"2020-09-07T14:50:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/people.epancharatna.com\/?p=1872"},"modified":"2021-02-11T12:08:27","modified_gmt":"2021-02-11T12:08:27","slug":"in-jordan-some-refugee-fathers-find-a-place-to-be-vulnerable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peoplebeyondborders.org\/fr\/in-jordan-some-refugee-fathers-find-a-place-to-be-vulnerable\/","title":{"rendered":"In Jordan, Some Refugee Fathers Find a Place to Be Vulnerable"},"content":{"rendered":"

Humanitarian aid organizations tend to view men as more capable of coping with hardship and often overlook them as a vulnerable population of refugees, writes Marta Vidal. One group in Jordan is trying to change that.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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In Amman, Jordan, a group of refugee men from Iraq and Syria attend a weekly support group. Photo courtesy of CRP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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AMMAN, JORDAN<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>\u2013 Each week, a group of 15 or so refugee men meet at a community center in East Amman and sit in a circle. They laugh and cry together while sharing stories they always divide into two phases: before and after the war\u00a0began.<\/p>\n

War and protracted exile have stripped them of their traditional roles and identities as their families\u2019 protectors and financial providers. This group is a safe space in which they get to be vulnerable. They realize they\u2019re not alone \u2013 but most importantly, it\u2019s a chance to be\u00a0heard.<\/p>\n

One longtime member, Salem,* fled Syria in 2013. When he settled in Amman, he hoped to find opportunities to start a new life. Instead, his concerns about safety were replaced with worry about not being able to find a job to support his family in\u00a0Jordan.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel so sad and guilty because I can\u2019t do anything for my family. I\u2019m responsible for them, but I have no money to take my wife to the doctor, or to buy the expensive medicine she needs,\u201d he says, looking down at the floor. \u201cMy daughter just finished high school, and she wants to go to university to study pharmacy. But education is so expensive in Jordan. I can\u2019t afford\u00a0it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Humanitarian aid organizations tend to focus their resources on the populations they consider most vulnerable, such as refugee women and children. So programs like this one, which targets men, are\u00a0rare.<\/p>\n

But male refugees can be vulnerable, too. Years after reaching safety, many men suffer from depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. Mental health conditions can worsen if patients continue to live in precarious conditions, whether in formal camps or informal urban settings, according to\u00a0Medecins Sans Frontieres<\/a>\u00a0(MSF<\/span>). Financial difficulties and family stress take a particularly heavy\u00a0toll.<\/p>\n

Jordan, with more than 750,000 registered refugees, has one of the largest refugee populations of any country. Most are from Syria. Very few are able to find legal work, despite Jordan\u2019s attempts to give Syrian refugees greater access to the labor market. Many can only find work under the table or must rely on aid organizations for their every\u00a0need.<\/p>\n

The loss of employment and financial autonomy can be especially distressing for refugee fathers, who often feel as if they\u2019ve failed their\u00a0families.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a father, the lack of opportunities is terrible. There is no future here for my child,\u201d says Nour, a refugee from Iraq and the father of a 2-year-old\u00a0boy.<\/p>\n

Men Are Vulnerable\u00a0Too<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Humanitarian aid organizations tend to follow predominant gender stereotypes when determining how to distribute their resources in emergency settings. They typically view men as more capable of coping with\u00a0hardship.<\/p>\n

Perceptions of female and child vulnerability are widespread and rarely questioned, according to Lewis Turner, a senior researcher at the Arnold Bergstraesser\u00a0Institute.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese assumptions are part of a broader gender binary that associates men with power and women with weakness,\u201d Turner says. \u201cHumanitarian organizations are influenced by gender stereotypes that expect men to project independence and autonomy. But also by racialized assumptions about Arab masculinities that can lead to Arab men being seen as\u00a0threatening.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turner\u2019s research<\/a>\u00a0explores how the humanitarian sector works with refugee men. While conducting interviews with humanitarian workers in Jordan, he realized that refugee men are largely\u00a0overlooked.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt often didn\u2019t occur to them to think about men,\u201d he\u00a0says.<\/p>\n

But they are frequently rendered vulnerable by their circumstances. Refugee men in Jordan are more likely than women to be\u00a0unregistered<\/a>\u00a0and are therefore often less able to access humanitarian services. Unable to secure work permits, refugee men working informally are\u00a0exposed to greater risk of arrest and deportation<\/a>. Jordanian officials may also force them back to refugee camps if they\u2019re caught working illegally, virtually blocking their access to the labor\u00a0market.<\/p>\n

\u201cWork is usually seen as a source of refugee men\u2019s independence, but it can also expose them to serious threats, dangerous situations or terrible working conditions,\u201d Turner\u00a0says.<\/p>\n

This gendered approach to assessing vulnerability affects refugee men\u2019s access to humanitarian services. Most psychosocial support programs and community activities target women and children, resulting in a gap in service\u00a0provision.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrants are mostly for women and kids,\u201d says Judy Oldfield-Wilson, director of communications at the\u00a0Collateral Repair Project<\/a>\u00a0(CRP<\/span>), a nonprofit organization that runs the weekly community groups with refugee men in East Amman. Donors tend to focus on women and children because they garner more sympathy, she\u00a0says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWork used to be a big part of [the men\u2019s] identities, but it\u2019s something they lost,\u201d Oldfield-Wilson says. \u201cWomen have their identities as wives and mothers, but men don\u2019t have the same roles to fall back\u00a0on.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Place to Be\u00a0Heard<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Several nonprofits in Jordan are starting to offer activities and psychosocial support for men, too.\u00a0CRP<\/span>\u00a0started its weekly support group after women complained their husbands were restless and depressed. It\u2019s called Diwaniya, the Arabic word for the reception area in Middle Eastern homes where men traditionally entertain their\u00a0guests.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe designed it for people to say things that come from their hearts, not their heads,\u201d says\u00a0CRP<\/span>\u2019s deputy director Samer Kurdi, a Jordanian painter who became the group\u2019s\u00a0facilitator.<\/p>\n

Every week the men are asked to discuss a different question that explores issues related to their identities and feelings of guilt, sadness or frustration. For example, sometimes the men express feelings of survivor\u2019s guilt at having escaped Syria or Iraq when war claimed the lives of so many\u00a0others.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had amazing moments with men crying. I sometimes had to fight back tears,\u201d he says. The group helps men realize that others are experiencing similar problems and makes them feel less\u00a0isolated.<\/p>\n

The stigma against mental health conditions is one of the most\u00a0common reasons<\/a>\u00a0why refugee men don\u2019t seek help or treatment.\u00a0CRP<\/span>\u00a0offers other activities, such as a mind-body medicine program, to fight that\u00a0stigma.<\/p>\n

Diwaniya brings together men from different countries and backgrounds. Many used to own stores and businesses in Syria or Iraq. Some hold academic degrees. Others used to be farmers. But in Jordan, all face similar effects of displacement and the suffocating lack of\u00a0prospects.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t find work, so we don\u2019t know how to spend our free time,\u201d says Kareem, who used to be a school director in\u00a0Iraq.<\/p>\n

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In Amman, Jordan, a group of refugee men from Iraq and Syria attend a weekly support group. Photo courtesy of CRP<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>\n

Kareem and Salem met in 2015, when they both started attending. Kareem is from Iraq and Salem from Syria. Both are in their early 60s. They bonded over the meetings and quickly became best\u00a0friends.<\/p>\n

Salem\u2019s wife reminds him about the weekly meeting the day before, and he walks for an hour to get there. The scheduled appointment gives him something to look forward to in his otherwise unoccupied\u00a0week.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the group, people listen to me, and that\u2019s very important,\u201d Salem says. \u201cIt\u2019s so hard to find places where we are actually heard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kareem nods in agreement. \u201cWhen someone talks, everybody listens,\u201d he says. \u201cI have many problems, but the group gives me energy to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n

*Some names have been changed.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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