Salam Neighbor

Good evening.

These uprisings,

The citizen revolutions

we've been covering

From the middle east

over to north africa,

Have been popping up

like thunderstorms.

a situation is unfolding

in libya.

Witnesses are hearing

gunfire and blasts

From rocket-propelled

grenades.

you have these moments

When an old world dies

And a new one

is not yet born.

And this is

a very dangerous

And perilous moment.

the whole region

Seems to be

on fire right now.

Now it's syria.

Syria exploded.

thousands of

syrians

have lost their lives

In the conflict

between forces

Loyal to president

bashar al-assad

And fighters opposed

to his rule.

the insurgency

has taken a turn

Towards a much more significant

islamic radicalization.

-Isis...

-Isis...

-Isis militants...

syria's newest conflict--

It's war within a war.

for three years,

we've been watching

the bloodshed in syria.

The same images of

war and violence

Seem to spread

across every channel

And every headline.

The result is fear.

Fear of terrorism,

fear of islam,

Fear of the middle east.

Drowned out

was the coverage

Of the million syrians

Who have been

forced to flee their country,

Creating the largest refugee

crisis since world war ii.

As filmmakers, we immerse

ourselves in humanitarian

issues,

Living the reality we

are attempting to understand.

And in ,

we created a nonprofit

To help bring

these stories to life.

We hope to do this with

the syrian refugee crisis,

To take the time to hear

from refugees firsthand.

When the world

is turning away

And they've lost

everything,

What does their

future look like?

It took over a

year to make it possible,

But with jordan's

approval,

The un agreed

to register us

And give us a tent inside a

refugee camp in jordan.

It was the first time

that has ever been done.

of all districts,

where to put you?

We don't want to put you

in a congested area,

'cause that would

just be crazy,

so we're staying here.

The project

that you're doing

I don't think

has been done before

In a refugee camp

anywhere in the world.

for want of a better

term, as a sociological

experiment

Or as a piece of research,

In terms of how refugee

camps operate and run,

I think it'll be

very useful...

In a way that will help

unhcr and other agencies

Understand the dynamics

And the life

and the beat of a camp.

Your interactions with people

May not always be

positive and good.

Just be sensible.

we were traveling

to jordan,

A country that has taken

in

An estimated

. million syrians

In just four years--

The equivalent of the

us providing refuge

For half the population

of mexico.

And jordan

is a small country,

About the size of indiana.

On its northern border

Is the second

largest refugee

camp in the world.

Just seven miles

from syria,

It's providing

shelter to

, refugees.

Am binsawir.

Do you have any kind

of id, identification?

These are

the documents.

we were going

to be living in za'atari

For the next month.

Aside from paying

for what we received,

We were registered

in the same way

And given the same

supplies as refugees.

It would be up to

us to figure out

How to navigate life here.

I'm gonna get so lost

around this camp.

- is this home?

-Yes.

We don't want to anger

anyone on our first day.

Is there a problem?

right off the

bat, we had some anger

and confusion

About zach and me

filming women

And what we were

doing next to the kitchen

Where the women hang out.

But once we promised

we wouldn't film

anyone without permission,

Things quickly calmed

down.

Right away, people came

to help us set up our tent.

We couldn't tell if they were

refugees or aid workers,

But it turned out they lived in

the tents and trailers

Right next door.

Ah.

-It's like--

-so, like this?

Here, you hold

the shovel.

Okay, watch me.

You want to try?

Yeah.

Yes, very good.

Very good.

I think they're making

fun of my hammering skills,

But you know.

Okay.

-Oh, it needs a cylinder.

-Yeah, yeah.

He has a solution for you.

He could us

something like--

They call it a melon.

It looks like a melon.

He's our neighbor.

Yeah, he said

that we are neighbors,

and we should--

He will give us--

he will give us--

Oh, look at this.

Good thing we all

forgot toothpaste.

So that's helpful.

he's teaching you

how to use them.

I know how to

use that, raouf.

Oh, this is...

oh, uh, mice can open this

And they start eating.

Let's put this back inside.

Let's see what we know.

this is za'atari camp.

It's about /

miles by / miles,

And it's broken

into districts here.

And then our tent is

here in district .

These camps like

za'atar exist all over the world

In different countries.

Wherever the camps

are, they have to follow the

laws

Of that host country,

Even though many

are set up and managed

By the united nations.

In za'atari,

the un works

With over nonprofits

to run the camp.

It's a massive operation

to provide tents and trailers,

Trucks of clean

water, daily food distributions,

Hospitals

and community centers,

And even school

up to the th grade.

Za'atari is patrolled

by the jordanian police,

And they have the final

say on security in the camp.

Why are they telling us

it's too dangerous now?

That was just security...

That stopped by

our tent.

And...

They're saying

it's too dangerous

For us to stay overnight.

So...

Um, the one person

we can talk to

Is the local

district leader.

Just gotta pack

our stuff up

And go to his tent.

Is there any way

you can ask security

To let us stay

overnight in the camp?

Do you have any idea

why they would've

changed their minds?

after all of our planning,

Security changed

their mind,

And we couldn't

stay overnight in the camp.

Good-bye, district .

It was for our own safety.

We had to head

to the town of mafraq,

About seven miles

from za'atari.

It was disappointing,

but it actually showed us

A completely different

side of the refugee

crisis in jordan.

% of refugees

here live outside of camps,

In urban cities,

Relying on jordanian

generosity.

But in a country with high

unemployment and limited

resources,

How long can people

continue to welcome

in new refugees?

We had a hard time

finding anywhere to stay.

The city was so

crowded with syrians,

Rent prices had tripled

Since the war

began three years ago.

Luckily, ibraheem

found us a storage room

In the back

of an office building

Where we could

spend our nights

for the next month.

-Thank you.

-We're making

some tea for you.

it wasn't long

Before people

started coming into our tent

To ask us questions

Or just say hi.

Right away, we

were a new source of amusement

For raouf and his friends.

Oh! Yeah!

It really started to

feel like a routine.

Every day we'd

leave from mafraq late a

night...

And then be back

in the camp again

By a.M.

one of the first

people we became close with

Was this guy named

ismail, and it was--

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