The End of Refugee Resettlement

"“We had some furniture that we sold because we assumed we were not going to spend another winter in Jordan,” Hiba told me. A portable heater, a gas cylinder, sofas, and carpets-all had recently been unloaded. Ibrahim entered the room, limping slightly-the result of an injury he'd sustained in Sudan-and sat on a mattress. He was thin and wore a loose sweatsuit. The couple's six-year-old twins, a boy and a girl, played in the next room."

"“The neighborhood, called Jabal al-Joufeh, was historically home to merchants, politicians, and poets. More recently, it has become an informal settlement for refugee families.” A gray curtain hung on a single window, and soft light seeped around the edges and into the cool, incense-infused air. The insulation was poor, and the home had no heat. The living area, tidy and sparsely furnished, was lined with several mattresses; it doubled as the children's bedroom."

"The family belongs to Sudan's Nuba minority, a Black, ethnically diverse group of some three million people indigenous to the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan, an oil-rich, agricultural region next to Darfur. Various armed groups have long vied for control of the area, and have been accused of engaging in a campaign of atrocities against the Nuba and other communities there. In 2013, Hiba and Ibrahim survived an attack that killed some of their family members; they were displaced sever"

A taxi ride in Amman led to Jabal al-Joufeh, an informal settlement where refugee families live in one-bedroom homes. Hiba and Ibrahim, Sudanese refugees from the Nuba minority, share their space with three children, using mattresses as sleeping areas and lacking heat due to poor insulation. They sold furniture and unloaded basic items like a portable heater and gas cylinder, expecting they would not remain in Jordan another winter. Ibrahim’s injury from Sudan limits him physically. The family fled violence in South Kordofan, where armed groups have been accused of atrocities against the Nuba and other communities. After surviving an attack in 2013, they were displaced and continued to face instability.

Read at The New Yorker