Al-Baq’a camp, considered the largest refugee camp for Palestinians in the Diaspora was established in 1968 to absorb the Palestinian refugees who left their temporary camps in the Jordan Rift Valley area established after the 1967 war, with the escalating level of confrontation on both banks of the Jordan River between soldiers of the Zionist occupation and the Palestinian Fedayeen.

Noteworthy is that this camp among ten camps in Jordan has attracted the attention of researchers, scholars, human rights organisations, NGOs, and political parties; local, regional and international.

Al-Baq’a camp for refugees is considered one of the largest concentrations of the Palestinian Diaspora, not only in Jordan, but also in all the countries hosting refugees. On an area of 14.1 square km live 13800 families, forming the 120 thousand strong population of the camp, where each family lives on an area of 96 square metres.

The camp like others suffers many problems, whether in healthcare or services, of these are the following:

The worsening condition of dwellings, small area, overcrowding, high occupancy of the single unit or room, result in a lack of health and minimum standards suitable for human dwelling.

Narrowness of roads, paths, alleyways with many potholes, cracked and open sewage channels, stagnant water, open gutters, which are a constant source of pollution, and places for rats and vermin, and other harmful pests and insects.

Quantities of mounting rubbish of different types, and the unavailability of resources to collect and dispose of it using modern means, and insufficient quantities of containers to collect it in.

A small percentage of camp inhabitants rear domestic animals and birds in their homes, like; goats, rabbits, poultry, and pigeons. As these form a source of income for many families, which complicates matters, where no-one can demand an end to this practice, rather some organisations advance loans to the refugees, encouraging raising animals, which is something economically commendable, but the smallness of the dwellings, and the absence of proper guidance on how to deal correctly with these animals may cause an environmental problem.

Widespread livestock enclosures or what the camp inhabitants call Souq Al-Hal-lal in the eastern part of the camp. These animals roam freely on the roads and alleys of the camp, preventing the inhabitants from planting trees on the roads and alleys, as these animals destroy the saplings and any other plants, in addition to the environmental pollution and inconvenience to the inhabitants, these animals cause.

Health:

In the camp are three health clinics run by UNRWA providing medical services to all the camp inhabitants. In these clinics, 12 doctors work in addition to one dentist and around 57 nurses and registered midwives.

However inhabitants complain of a scarcity in the majority of medicines, and that they are forced to buy medicine from private sector pharmacies, which is an added burden on their already overburdened shoulders.

The clinics also face massive pressure because of the many patients, and so a sick person may wait for about two hours before being seen by the doctor.

Some of those who have used the clinics assert that the level of services provided are not up to par, and that the examination is done so rapidly and inaccurately. The camp inhabitants demand that full time specialist doctors are made available.

Also the examination in the eye clinic is done using signals, as there is no equipment for that examination. If the patient needs to have spectacles made, then they have to go to Al-Bashir government hospital in the capital Amman.

The problem of overcrowding in the market and the problem of stalls

One of the problems that Al-Baq’a camp faces is the souq (the market) and its chaotic spread of stalls in such a disorganised manner that causes traffic jams and severe congestion in the market. Not only the inhabitants of the camp who come to this market, people from other surrounding areas also do so. Shop owners have demanded the services committee to do its job and find a solution to the problem of stalls.

Some traders say that the chaotic, disorganised, and congested state of the market is holding up traffic and the free circulation of shoppers. As for the market stall area, which was set up by the services committee a few years ago, it is in its original unsanitary state and isn’t used by the market stall sellers.

The traders have demanded that the services committee find a solution to the problem of stalls, not just move them elsewhere, rather organise them such that people can shop quite easily.

One of the market’s frequent shoppers considered the presence of stalls as a source of income for its owners, however they had become chaotic and disorganised.

He added that he and others do buy from these stalls because of their reasonable prices, which are within the means of the majority of people.

In the meantime, the owner of one stall called on the services committee to invest in the stalls area of the market, and not leave it in its abandoned state, especially as it had cost the committee large amounts of money to create.

Camp services committee

Al-Hajj Ata Al-Waheedi, head of the services committee of Al-Baq’a refugee camp said: “The committee proposed solutions to the problem of the marketplace, and these are being studied. The committee began an operation to organise the market in September, on the basis of a bidding process as an investment undertaken by a local agency. He added that the committee in cooperation with the local authority of Ain Al-Basha, and the police post, is working to organise the market using measures to reduce the congestion in the public interest. Al-Waheedi affirmed that the committee in going about its duties takes a view of sympathy and pity for the situation of those who own these stalls, knowing the reduced and difficult circumstances of some.

Al-Waheedi revealed that the committee will be opening bidding on the construction of a market and commercial storage units on a piece of land belonging to Al-Baq’a football club, having completed a joint technical study with the department of Palestinian Affairs, and Ain Al-Basha local authority. The committee will start work on it if it feels commitment to move to the new marketplace on the part of the stall owners.

Sanitation and hygiene

The problem of sanitation in Al-Baq’a camp is still one that causes sleepless nights for many of the inhabitants of the camp, who lay the blame on the camp services committee.

The residents demanded that the committee provide sufficient rubbish disposal units, in addition to allocating a place for waste disposal units outside the camp boundaries rather than in the bus terminal, as it gives a distasteful, uncivilised image to the camp, especially when the camp receives a huge number of visitors and shoppers daily.

A number of shop owners also insisted that the services committee fulfil its role in closely supervising cleaning, especially in the market, as they pay one dinar monthly in return for this service.

A worker in one of the restaurants close to the bus terminal said: the committee is doing its job, but the rubbish scattered in front of his restaurant was due to the bus terminal which sees passage of a huge number of people. A shop owner said that cleaning services were not sufficient and not satisfactory, although he pays the services committee for providing this service.

One foreign worker in a shop said that the committee is doing its job as regards cleaning, but the disparity in quality of service from one place to another is due to the whims of the cleaning workers, who clean one place and disregard another, he requested that the committee closely watch the workers and their adherence to their job requirements.

The head of the services committee of Al-Baq’a refugee camp, Al-Hajj Ata Al-Waheedi, affirmed that the committee gives the issue of cleaning great importance, and the preoccupation of the services committee is serving the resident, and that the camp was part of this country, and so must be looked after and so give a good image of it.

He added that the committee in order to preserve hygiene, had appointed four workers on top of those appointed by UNRWA, carrying out cleaning duties daily from eight in the evening to midnight, especially in the area of the bus terminal.

Al-Baq’a sports club

Al-Baq’a club is considered one of the largest sports clubs in Jordan, and plays a noticeable role in serving the camp inhabitants, as the club has more than one objective other than sport. It is a social club, cultural centre, while also caring for orphans in the camp through a committee set up for the welfare of orphans, providing educational and civic programmes, as well as aid packages to them.

The club also undertakes notable activities to spread the culture of “Return” and adherence to homeland, rejecting all the initiatives and documents that seek to take away that right, by organising forums, debates, and cultural fairs. The cultural committee of the club has annually held Palestine culture week aiming to maintain the Palestinian issue alive in the hearts of its sons.

The club has sports teams at the forefront of the sports league in Jordan. The football club is fourth in the league of premier clubs. The volleyball team is one of the top teams in the first division, as for the boxing team it has been at the top of the Kingdom championship for the last 25 years.

Al-Baq’a Park

At a cost of 78,000 Euros, the director of the Department for Palestinian Affairs inaugurated the children’s park built by the department in cooperation with an Italian NGO (Institute for Inter-University Cooperation). The establishment of this park comes as part of the project for constant improvement of living conditions of Palestinian refugees in camps in Jordan. The children’s park in Al-Baq’a camp is considered the first of its kind in Palestinian refugee camps. It is a welcome outlet for the children such that they may enjoy themselves in a secure and healthy environment, rather than making the streets their playground.