17 June 2007 - Letter from Amman
Friends and family:
I have been in Amman,
Jordan, for the
past 6 weeks working with the Iraq Operations Unit of UNHCR (UN High
Commissioner for Refugees). My task has been/is to write a national policy
outlining how the Iraq Government should address the problem of internally
displaced persons (IDPs). At present, there are more than 2 million Iraqi IDPs
– which means people who have fled, or been forced to flee their homes, but
remain in Iraq.
Once they cross an international border, they become “refugees” – of which
there are several million, 1 million in Jordan and others scattered
throughout the Middle East and Europe. Sadly, most of Iraq’s best professionals –
lawyers, doctors, teachers – have been driven either to leave the country or
into internal displacement.
UNHCR, like other international agencies (UNICEF, WHO, OCHA,
etc) largely provide humanitarian assistance in Iraq by remote control – that
is, local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or national staff of
international organizations, work in Iraq to distribute food and non-food
items, as it is too dangerous for internationals. There is a ceiling, at this
time, of about 29 internationals from the UN system permitted in Baghdad. Needless to say,
I am not one of them. Hence, I have been drafting a policy for a country I
visited only once – and briefly – in 1985, and all my communication with the
government is by email or phone. Still, the work has been challenging.
I had hoped to get another month here, because Jordan is
really a quite beautiful place to live. Amman
may not be exciting by Middle Eastern standards, but it is an attractive city
of white stone houses perched on hills. There are shopping malls though no
really old souks (markets), but - Things
work – electricity, water, the road system. I have had a comfortable furnished apartment
since my arrival. There are good restaurants, and Arabic food is both delicious
and deliciously fattening. (I have put on a kilo at least.) And I have made
some good friends with fun people.
There are lots of things to do on the weekends. I have
visited Petra (a truly magnificent red-rose city carved out of the sandstone
mountains 2000 plus years ago; Jerash – one of the largest and best preserved
sites of Roman architecture outside of Italy – a provincial capital, with
enormous carved pillars lining the boulevards, an amphitheatre, temples,
squares, baths and fountains; the Dead Sea – which will disappear in a few
generations if measures are not taken to preserve it – there are plans to build
a channel connecting it to the Red Sea, but that will require peace in the
Middle East to achieve; Wadi Rum, a desert national park, where you can sleep
on the sand under the stars and see the milky way with a clarity I’ve not
encountered previously, and the mountains of sandstone are spectacular in their
swirls and colours; and Wadi Mujib, where a river cuts through a gorge and if
you climb up the river basin floor upwards, over rapids, you reach a waterfall
– which I did not achieve. I let caution prevail when I had to climb huge
boulders with water rushing down and decided, if I was 35, I might try it, but
at 50 – a birthday I of course celebrate year after year.
Next weekend, if the passport I sent in for renewal comes
back, I will go to Damacus for a few days. And, when my assignment comes to an
end here, 5 July, I will take 5 days and go to Israel. Then, I am off for my next
assignment – to Kathmandu, Nepal. Its exciting. I am excited.
In Nepal,
I will be working with the Government which has just adopted a policy for its
IDPs – to help write directives for its implementation. That will be a 3 month
task. And then, though it will again be winter, after perhaps a brief holiday
in the region (I have always wanted to, and never seen, Angkor Wat in Cambodia – said
to rival Petra)
so maybe I will be able to do that before coming back to Canada for the
holidays.
This job is lots of fun, and challenging – but also a little
lonely in constantly making and losing friends. So, when you take the time to
drop a line and bring me up to date on your lives and doings, I really enjoy
it. So please do drop an email when you have time.
Warmest regards
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