Oman- The refugees may wake up one day and hear of an international decision to establish a special state for them with a population of 100 million and ranked 20th in the world in terms of population. Despite the cold, it will be very warm for them and they will practice various kinds of sports.
In the wishes of refugees in Jordan, there is a lot of hope and ambition, including for them to have a football team in the World Cup Qatar 2022, and if they are realized – as happened in the Olympic Games twice and the Paralympic Games as well – this Qatari, Arab and global World Cup will be exceptional and humane, and through this global event sheds light on the suffering of refugees.
But what prevents that?
More than 82 million people around the world have forcibly left their countries and arrived in new areas, according to figures from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
For various reasons, Jordan has received more than 3 million and 700 thousand of them and from more than 53 nationalities living under the name of “refugee.” Among them are about 67 thousand Iraqi refugees, about 14 thousand Yemeni refugees, 6000 Sudanese refugees, and 719,000 Somali refugees. Some of them are in camps and poor neighborhoods, but they face harsh conditions that limit their opportunities for creativity and excellence in sports. Their priority is to live in dignity after they have suffered from hardship and difficulty in obtaining their daily bread.
We visit refugee camps in the capital Amman and a number of Jordanian governorates, to learn about the stories of refugees of different ages trying to play sports for specific hours, and looking for a chance to shine and reach international and regional games, or even at least join a Jordanian club or team that takes them to the world, although Opportunities are very scarce, almost non-existent.
The refugees are scattered in different regions of Jordan, and some of them reside in camps and work all day long, but some of them find an outlet in the evening hours and Fridays to play football in prohibited places or in open school yards, and some of them used a plot of land to gather friends and play a game, and others cut a part From their income to reserve a playground that makes him live the joy of playing in a lit place and on green artificial grass and a white striped playground.
One of these Sudanese refugees, Abu Bakr al-Nubi, who spent 40 years of his life as a refugee in Jordan, is known by all the people of the neighborhood. Neither he nor one of his sons could practice sports as the peoples of the land do in their countries, so what does it mean not to violate the existing laws and regulations, and to obtain food his day, and sports are secondary in his life and the life of his family.
Al-Nubi says, “I have been in Jordan since the eighties of the last century, and I did little sport during my youth. A number of my friends, comrades and their children gather in the evening in a dirt yard and play football.”
He adds that the square was paved and reused as a parking lot, and it can be played in the evening after it is empty of vehicles, but it is not necessary for him to exercise regularly.
To the yard we headed, where there are a number of refugee children of Somali, Yemeni, Nigerian and Sudanese nationalities. Groups of children no more than 15 years old found a place in this yard to play football with an airless ball.
A dream of a better future collides with a sad reality
At the entrance to the square sits a Somali refugee. He said that his Arabic is difficult and he cannot speak it, but we understood that he has been in Jordan for 9 years, but he does not play football and is satisfied with watching his peers play.
In turn, Abdul Rahman Al-Qaed (a high school student in one of the Syrian refugee camps in eastern Jordan) says that practicing sports was before the Corona pandemic in stadiums established by international organizations working in the camps, but it has stopped since the beginning of the pandemic, and is still suspended until today.
He confirms that opportunities are rare and scarce in playing sports, and he pointed to the successes achieved by refugees in the field of sports, some of whom obtained training certificates from Chelsea FC, and another was among 11 refugees chosen to play in Brazil from the Zaatari camp.
On the other hand, Ali Alloush, 30, who is a Syrian refugee, but he does not reside in refugee camps, does not think at all about sports because there is something more important than that. Here, it is not possible to risk any dollar except in the right place for its spending, as the days have not yet revealed all their tragedies to us as refugees,” according to Alloush.
He adds that he came to Jordan since 2012, i.e. with the beginnings of asylum, but he moves around at work and does not accept the invitation of his friends when they agree to reserve a field for football or any other kind of sport, and this story “applies to my female sisters and almost applies to all refugees, their goals are In life, it changes a lot and what is a natural right becomes inaccessible due to new circumstances.”
In turn, the legal expert at the National Center for Human Rights, Dr. Nahla Momani, believes that the public system in the field of human rights has recognized the human right at the highest attainable level of health and mentality.
Al-Momani affirmed the human right to entertainment and leisure, and it is no secret that international agreements have given sports great importance and considered it one of the tools for human access to living in integrated mental, physical and psychological health.
She pointed out that the Refugee Convention did not explicitly provide for the right to sport for refugees, explicitly and directly, which constitutes an international legislative void in the agreement specialized in this category.
Momani pointed out that the International Olympic Committee and the International Olympic Charter affirmed that “the practice of sport is a human right, and everyone must have the possibility to practice sport without discrimination of any kind, and that sport should be used to promote a peaceful society concerned with preserving human dignity.”
The legal expert said that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) confirmed that physical education is a basic right for all without discrimination, and its role in development and peace, especially in the post-conflict period.
She noted that UNHCR pledged to encourage and ensure the access of all refugees without discrimination to safe and inclusive sports facilities, encourage them to access sports competitions, and increase the provision of sports and organized sports initiatives, taking into account age, gender and any other needs.
She indicated that the aforementioned international human rights standards affirm that sport is a right for all, knowing that refugees are one of the groups that exist in societies, which must enjoy the right to sport and practice it, including participating in various sports teams, or forming their own teams and participating in various sports competitions.
Momani concluded that the Tokyo Olympics is a clear example that refugees have potentials that can be invested and stimulated, which ensures increased bonds of understanding and tolerance among the peoples of the world, emphasizing that refugee women face double difficulties in terms of engaging in sports due to the surrounding conditions and the conservative environments of the refugee community. And the lack of necessary places as well.
A recent UNICEF report showed that sport improves children’s educational attainment and develops skills, including empowerment, leadership and self-esteem, and this contributes to improving children’s well-being and future prospects.
On September 15, 2018, the president of the Jordan Football Association, Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, opened two playgrounds in the Zaatari camp for Syrian refugees, and he said – at the time – that “children when they enter these stadiums will have the courage to live their big dreams, they are football players, they are referees, and fans “.
UNICEF: Sport improves children’s educational attainment and develops their skills (Al-Jazeera)He added that the practice of football will provide the opportunity for children to spend fun times learning to play in one team, and eventually their lives will change beyond the last whistle of the referee in any match.
In November 2013, the Norwegian Women’s Football Stadium opened in Zaatari camp as a grant from the Norwegian government for young Syrian men and women, who represent more than 50 percent of the Zaatari camp population.
And football activities continued for Syrian girls, as well as coaches residing in Zaatari, who were rehabilitated by coaches and trainers from Jordan and Europe. social and personal.
For the second time, the Refugee Olympic Team participated in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which was postponed last year. The team was announced for the first time in 2015 and participated in the “Rio 2016” Olympics, and the team in Tokyo included about 29 athletes.
In 2016, the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee approved the establishment of the team, and 43 candidates were selected, of whom 10 remain in the final list to participate in the Rio Olympics, and all the athletes were granted refugee status by the United Nations.
The ten athletes (two swimmers, two judokas, and five runners) represented the refugee Olympic team in Rio, two of them won, and their achievement was celebrated as a gain in the strength of the sport.
The Paralympic refugees also celebrated the achievement of their participation on the world stage of the “Tokyo 2020” Olympics, and they sent a message of hope and unity to more than 80 million refugees and displaced people around the world, including 12 million people with special needs.
Alia Issa – the first female to join the team – said, “The whole event is a wonderful experience for me, the refugee team is not just a team, but a family that is trying to unite all the refugees around the world.”
The Paralympic Refugee Team – often referred to during the Games as the six-member “sports bravest team” – overcame many hurdles to reach Tokyo, including the often traumatic experience of fleeing war or persecution, trying Adapting to life in new societies.
And even though they didn’t win any medals, the team’s perseverance was inspiring.
After all that has been written and will be written, the refugees still need to be integrated into the world after the pain inflicted on them, in the hope that the next team will participate in the World Cup and the various continental and international tournaments.
