Jordan can no longer handle refugee pressure from Syria on its own and has asked the international community for help.
The Prime Minister of Jordan, Hani Al-Mulki, has told the UN High Commissioner for Refugees that Jordan can no longer handle refugee pressure on its own. After a meeting with High Commissioner Filippo Grandi on Tuesday, Al-Mulki said international organizations had to help carry the burden of hosting 1.3 million Syrian refugees. "Jordan is carrying out this humanitarian endeavor on behalf of the world … [It] is no longer able to bear any additional pressure generated by the refugee crisis on the infrastructure and the main sectors such as healthcare, education, water and the host communities," Al-Mulki said.
Multi-billion dollar response plan
Jordan has recently approved a multi-billion dollar plan to respond to the refugee crisis, funding for which it hopes to obtain from the international community. Meanwhile, Grandi visited al Zaatari camp earlier in the week and met refugees to discuss the main issues of concern, including job placement and how to improve living conditions for the refugee community. During his visit, Grandi praised Jordan's efforts to boost employment among Syrian refugees, saying greater international support for such schemes was needed to lift millions of Syrians across the region out of poverty. Of some 657,000 registered Syrian refugees in Jordan, more than 80 per cent live below the poverty line of less than US$3 a day, reflecting the situation facing more than 5.5 million Syrian refugees across the region.
Job facilitation schemes
"I want to commend the government of Jordan for having facilitated schemes that allow Syrian refugees to have jobs," the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said during his visit. "What I will say to donors is we need to invest more in these schemes." Jordan has so far issued more than 88,000 work permits to Syrians, as part of a 2016 "compact" deal that also increased international aid to the country. The majority of permits were issued for the agriculture and construction sectors, with women accounting for around 5 percent of the total.
Grandi expresses concern about Azraq camp residents
On his third visit to Jordan as High Commissioner, Grandi also met with refugees living inside a secure area of Azraq camp, in the country's remote northeastern desert. Many of the roughly 8,000 individuals still living in the fenced-off area known as village five have been there since mid-2016, when they were among more than 21,000 Syrians transferred to the camp after spending months stranded at the border. The High Commissioner acknowledged the government's security concerns, which to date have seen some 13,000 cleared to join the general camp population, but said the UNHCR was worried about the impact of such an extended period of confinement on those remaining.