Première Urgence has been present in Syria since March 2007 and operational since May 2008. Working in the education sector, Première Urgence aims to encourage school attendance in Iraqi refugee pupils in Syria. Improved classroom conditions in Syrian primary and secondary state schools and increased capacity to deal with refugee children are the objectives for our two complementary projects, namely the refurbishment of 15 state schools (primary, secondary level and one vocational school) and the building of two new schools in the same area. Further information:  Syria - the background

Mission start: March 2007 (approval process) – May 2008 (opening of the PU Syria mission)
National staff: 10
Expatriate staff: 2
Annual budget:  €1,500,000
Financial partners: United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

Operations established in Syria      

The humanitarian situation for Iraqi refugees in Syria

It is difficult to accurately estimate the number of Iraqi refugees in Syria. Several waves have arrived one after the other since 2003 with a spike in 2006 following the Samarra mosque bombing. Figures vary depending on the source. From 500,000 to 1 million people are reported to have found refuge in Syria. According to UNHCR sources, 2% of the population arrived before 2003, 44% between 2003 and 2006, and 54% since 2006. The number of Iraqi refugees registered with UNHCR in Syria on 01 November 2008 is 219,690.

This humanitarian crisis is happening in an urban setting. Some 80% of Iraqi refugees have settled in the suburbs of Damascus and to a lesser extent in Syria's other main towns - Aleppo, Homs, Hama and Der el-Zor. There are no refugee camps in Syria other than on the Syrian-Iraqi border. Refugee Iraqi families rent flats in the Damascus suburbs, send their children to school insofar as places in the Syrian school system allow, have access to primary healthcare in the various clinics run by the Syrian Red Crescent and international NGOs, and after registering with the UNHCR, receive handouts of food, non-food items and, for the most vulnerable families, money into a Syrian bank account.
Iraqi refugees in Syria are not permitted to work.

The impoverishment of this population is underway. To degrees that vary with the social categories living as refugees in Syria, several months or even years with no money coming in have hugely reduced these families’ ability to meet their basic needs. The income necessary for those needs can be estimated to be around €400 including the cost of accommodation, which is estimated at between 8,000 and 15,000 Syrian pounds, or €115 and €215.

It should be noted that the Syrian hosts are also suffering from the burden of this population influx. Rent, basic foods, water and fuel costs have all risen considerably since 2006, and inflation remains a daily burden in a country where the average salary for a public-sector employee is no more than €200 per month.

The humanitarian situation in the education sector

In 2008, 49 132 Iraqi refugee pupils are attending Syrian state schools. Primary and secondary school are free and mandatory up to the age of 15. In response to the significant influx of pupils in some schools, the Syrian Ministry of Education has reintroduced a double shift system.
There are no schools in Syria solely for Iraqi refugees.

School - Syria

The Ministry of Education knows its needs and the solutions to be provided to support school attendance for Iraqi refugee children in Syria. Five points were raised during a meeting with the deputy Minister for Education, i.e. repairing schools, building new schools, distribution of school equipment, the purchase of a press for printing school books and financial support to pay teachers’ salaries.

Première Urgence is working in the education sector in support of the Syrian Ministry of Education. The operational area for our projects is in Jaramana (a suburb of Damascus) where already 30% of pupils are Iraqi. Of the 14 primary,secondary and one vocational school in Jaramana, 9 primary schools have reintroduced the double shift system. This aspect does not affect secondary schools, as the school timetable does not allow them to double-up teaching within a single day.
 
Jaramana’s primary and secondary schools and classrooms are overcrowded. Between 40 and 50 pupils are currently sharing average space of 35m2. Total overcrowding in schools amounts to more than 20%, the equivalent of approximately 2,500 pupils. The risk with this situation is lower quality of teaching for all pupils and significant risk of educational failure for these same children.
Some 14,840 pupils are attending state primary and secondary schools in Jaramana, including more than 4,200 Iraqi refugee children in Syria.

Action strategy for Iraqi refugees

We are currently providing active support to the Syrian Ministry of Education in its commitment to provide schooling for all Iraqi pupils of compulsory school age. Our work in this educational sector through the supervisory Ministry opens up short- and medium-term possibilities. The priority for our work today remains school attendance for all Iraqi children of compulsory school age, i.e. aged 6 to 15, to receive a general education - reading, writing and arithmetic.

Première Urgence’s programmes in Syria

School support work

Building of a new school

Two new state-run primary and secondary schools will be built in Jaramana by Première Urgence so that forty additional classrooms each holding 30 children on average will be ready for the start of the 2009-10 school years. Numerical equilibrium across all of Jaramana’s state-run primary and secondary schools is likely to return.