Rising cost of living accompanied by the Syrian Crisis

The possible military actions of Western countries have been heavily covered in Japanese media. How has the Syrian Crisis which started in 2011 changed the lives of people in Jordan hosting Syrian refugees?   First of all, the price of daily necessities gradually but surely has gone up. Most of them—prepaid cards for cell phone and foods such as vegetables and fruits imported from neighbor countries—are essential for daily life.

Rent fee has also risen nearly 20 percent compared to that 2 years ago. Some of the refugees from Syria have come to Jordan and shared same dwellings with their relatives, but there are also Syrian people who rent houses by themselves. Securing shelter is a priority for human beings to live, so Syrians who have enough money try to rent housings even if the rent fees are higher than the average. As a result, the rent fee has risen up.

In addition, the prices of gas and petrol have also slowly gone up since the beginning of this year. As gas stoves and central heating consuming heavy fuel oil are commonly used in Jordan, the increasing fuel cost is expected to make an impact on the livelihoods of Jordanians.

Now even we, foreigners, fully realize these changes, so it is easy to imagine that Jordanians can be more sensitive to them. JEN has supported not only Syrian refugees but also public schools in the host communities that have been hosting people evacuating from Syria. We do so through rehabilitating school facilities and promoting hygiene education. JEN has continued to work in order to make changes to the actual situations of both Syrians and Jordanians, and to ensure their safety and comfortable lives in Jordan.

[A car from Homs, a city in western Syria. We see many cars with Syrian number plates.]

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