Mid-December musings

The absolute best case scenario in Jamam is that the new site that UNHCR have chosen is cleared of UXO and declared safe for refugees to resettle. They will then start demarcating the site into plots, blocks and communities into which to organise people. They’re talking about establishing a temporary ‘holding area’ in the new site before demarcation is complete, to ‘put’ refugees trucked/bussed in from Al Fuj (which will occur once the site has been cleared) and moved from the Jamam site.

But what really worries me is that UNHCR don’t seem to have a ‘Plan B’ – in the worst case scenario where the new site is found to contain too many dangerous UXOs to clear, or is unsuitable for any other reason. Where are they going to put all these people if this happens? A huge area around us was a battlefield during the war, so the chances of finding UXOs in the new site are high. MineTech can come in and clear them all but this will take some time. In the meantime the situation for people continues to get worse.

If there is significant delay from NPA/UNHCR, or the assessment is found to be unfavourable, then we will look at providing remote access to water from outside the new site to minimise the public health risk to the current refugees. However this also carries a risk – if the area from where we provide water has not been assessed by a mine action organisation, and also contains UXO, then people are at risk.

So, what’s the plan from here? 

We have a borehole in our compound that we can hook up to a water yard and tap stand outside the fence for them to access. We’re doing a pump test to determine the borehole yield so we know how much water we have to play with. We’ve spoken with the host community (Jamam town) to confirm that they will share their water sources with the community – in return for us rehabilitating their two non-operational boreholes and repairing the one with a water yard and diesel pump.

We have asked MineTech to come and clear the site for the tap stand to be placed, and also the route that the refugees use when collecting water from the tap stand, the haffir and boreholes in Jamam town. It’s also important that this is done because Oxfam staff, when going into the current refugee site to liaise with the community, need a safe route free from UXO. We’re also getting them to double check our compound! Nothing like working in an old battlefield...

What I’m still not clear about is how soon refugees will take to arrive once the site is cleared; UNHCR said they would begin moving refugees from Al Fuj immediately after this occurred, and also from the Jamam site. We also don’t know how long demarcation will take once the site is cleared and therefore how long refugees will be held in a ‘holding area’ in the new site.

I’m just crossing my fingers that NPA will successfully clear the new Jamam site of all UXO, UNHCR can get in there ASAP to set things up, and then we can then start drilling testing to determine water availability. They can then direct us where the boreholes should be placed; and people will be able to start being trucked from the border – and possibly even moved from the existing site next to us. I still don’t think they’ll move, though if there are food distributions, medical assistance, safe water and some of their own people in the new camp, maybe they will.

In any case, we’ve still got a lot of work to do just to provide emergency water for the refugees camped on our doorstep. But at least its something we can get in there and do, and see results quickly. We just need everyone else to play their part, and hopefully we can help these people – which is what we’re here for.

I departed Jamam yesterday with a mix of emotions – firstly, a heavy heart that I was leaving and that I wasn’t going to be involved in activities until my next visit, that things were progressing and I wasn’t part of it, and that a number of my colleagues were sacrificing their Christmases to stay and work. But on the other hand, I felt some relief to be getting out of there. I was exhausted after only 6 days there; the 6 hour bumpy journey to reach Jamam, the 4 hour return journey from Bounj, the long hot days in the sun, daily team meetings at 6pm and again at 8am the next day, the continual ups and downs and frustrations of not knowing what’s going on, together with a limited diet and sleeping in tents all combine to make Jamam a very tiring place to be. 

And lastly, I had Christmas to look forward to.