Zaatari Refugee Camp: war in Syria
Zaatari is a refugee camp in northern Jordan, home to 80.000 civilians escaping war in Syria. Open since 2012, it has transitioned from the largest Syrian refugee camp in the world to a permanent settlement, the 4h largest city in Jordan. According an United Nations report, the average stay in a refugee camp is 17 years. With little hope on coming back home, the population living there are now struggling to create a livelihood, as an economy emerges inside the camp. Though built by UNHCR and the Jordanian government, it was the refugees themselves who transformed Zaatari in a city of tomorrow. The population living there established a social fabric that gives the new born city a sense of permanence and a spirit of ‘home’.