Homeward Bound

This is a daily scene at the Za'atari Refugee Camp in Jordan. Every weekday afternoon, on this occasion it was an hour before before sunset, the trucks & buses arrive and are quickly filled to the brim.

Young boys climb up on the cargo truck first so that their relatives below can hand them their luggage. The boys remain on board to make sure everyone's luggage stays safe during the short trip home and also to facilitate its unloading upon arrival.

The transportation, arranged and paid for by the Jordanian government; takes the refugees across the border where they may be met by a member of the Free Syrian Army or left to their own devices to make there way home.

In late September, around 300 people a day were leaving the camp to return to Syria. The convoy arrived in a blaze of desert dust amongst a stir of excitement from the waiting crowd. Suddenly there was a hive of activity and shouting as everyone rushed over to load their luggage under the watchful yet distant eye of the security forces.

Ironically those who were informally organising the process (and keeping the journalists and photographers at bay) were the self-appointed street leaders of Zaatari Camp. An aggravated man quickly approached us when we dared to stray from the zone to which we'd been allotted. "You can only shoot from here. Do not come any closer" he commanded sternly. The protective stance towards those heading back home was palpable yet frustrating given that we had waited for 90 minutes in the 35C degree heat of the desert sun for the arrival of the truck convoys.

Once the cargo truck (actually a huge refrigerated truck for food produce) was loaded the crowd quickly dissipated towards the passenger bus awaiting them nearby. Within minutes the convoy drove off towards the border leaving us covered in a cloud of dust as we wondered what would become of these (and future) returnees.