Thousands of Syrian refugees stranded on Jordan's border
20,000 Syrians are stranded on Jordan's border as officials appeal for aid to help support 1.265 million Syrians living in the country.
3 min read
20,000 Syrian refugees are attempting to enter Jordan [Getty]
The number of Syrian refugees stranded on Jordan's border and waiting for permission to enter has risen to 20,000, with 4,000 to 5,000 more arriving in the remote desert area every month, the head of the UN refugee agency in the kingdom said Sunday.
In recent months, Jordan has permitted only several dozen refugees to enter each day, leading to rapidly growing crowds of Syrians, including women and children, who are stuck in two areas along the Syrian-Jordanian border.
Jordanian authorities have cited security concerns for the bottleneck, saying many refugees come from areas controlled by the Islamic State group and need to undergo strict vetting.
International aid officials have urged Jordan to speed up the process and move refugees quickly to the UN-run Azraq refugee camp which is still more than half empty and could house thousands of newcomers.
Andrew Harper, the refugee agency chief in Jordan, told AP on Sunday that he is working with Jordanian officials to provide the "most basic necessities" to refugees stuck in the desert.
"It's challenging because the nearest town is about 150 kilometers away", Harper said.
"The UN understands the Jordanian security concerns, but is also working with local officials to try to expedite the vetting", he added.
Despite such efforts, the refugee agency is also preparing for the possibility of a continued rise in the number of refugees into the summer, at the current rate of 4,000 to 5,000 every month, Harper said.
Earlier Sunday, the head of Jordan's statistics department, Qasem al-Zoubi confirmed preliminary census results showing that 1.265 million Syrians live in the kingdom, or twice the number of registered Syrian refugees.
The figures were released ahead of next week's annual Syria aid conference where Jordan will seek a significant increase in international support to help it and other refugee host countries deal with the fallout from the five-year-old war.
Jordan’s Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour Saturday made the link between refugee admissions and aid in unusually blunt comments, during a visit to the Azraq refugee camp.
The conflict in Syria has uprooted millions of Syrians, including more than 4 million who fled their homeland. Deteriorating conditions in the host countries driven by aid shortfalls have prompted hundreds of thousands of Syrians to move to Europe.
The upcoming aid conference in London will try to find ways to keep more refugees in the region, including by putting large numbers to work and making them less dependent on aid.
Currently, most refugees are not allowed to work legally in Jordan and Lebanon, which face high domestic unemployment.
Ensour Saturday warned of possible changes in Jordan’s refugee policy.
"We have opened our borders," he said. "We will continue to do so provided that others come and help up help the Syrians ... I don’t mean just sending cash or grants. I want them to help the economy at large, that’s to say help the budget, help export ... our products because if these people [Syrians] have to join the industry, then the industry has to sell elsewhere."
In recent months, Jordan has permitted only several dozen refugees to enter each day, leading to rapidly growing crowds of Syrians, including women and children, who are stuck in two areas along the Syrian-Jordanian border.
Jordanian authorities have cited security concerns for the bottleneck, saying many refugees come from areas controlled by the Islamic State group and need to undergo strict vetting.
International aid officials have urged Jordan to speed up the process and move refugees quickly to the UN-run Azraq refugee camp which is still more than half empty and could house thousands of newcomers.
Andrew Harper, the refugee agency chief in Jordan, told AP on Sunday that he is working with Jordanian officials to provide the "most basic necessities" to refugees stuck in the desert.
"It's challenging because the nearest town is about 150 kilometers away", Harper said.
 |
Refugee agencies are preparing for the possibility of a continued rise in the number of refugees into the summer, at the current rate of 4,000 to 5,000 every month |  |
Despite such efforts, the refugee agency is also preparing for the possibility of a continued rise in the number of refugees into the summer, at the current rate of 4,000 to 5,000 every month, Harper said.
Earlier Sunday, the head of Jordan's statistics department, Qasem al-Zoubi confirmed preliminary census results showing that 1.265 million Syrians live in the kingdom, or twice the number of registered Syrian refugees.
The figures were released ahead of next week's annual Syria aid conference where Jordan will seek a significant increase in international support to help it and other refugee host countries deal with the fallout from the five-year-old war.
Jordan’s Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour Saturday made the link between refugee admissions and aid in unusually blunt comments, during a visit to the Azraq refugee camp.
The conflict in Syria has uprooted millions of Syrians, including more than 4 million who fled their homeland. Deteriorating conditions in the host countries driven by aid shortfalls have prompted hundreds of thousands of Syrians to move to Europe.
The upcoming aid conference in London will try to find ways to keep more refugees in the region, including by putting large numbers to work and making them less dependent on aid.
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The United Nations has registered about 635,000 Syrian refugees in Jordan since 2011 | |
Ensour Saturday warned of possible changes in Jordan’s refugee policy.
"We have opened our borders," he said. "We will continue to do so provided that others come and help up help the Syrians ... I don’t mean just sending cash or grants. I want them to help the economy at large, that’s to say help the budget, help export ... our products because if these people [Syrians] have to join the industry, then the industry has to sell elsewhere."
If such support is not received, "then it would be very, very difficult for us to continue the way that we did in the past," he added.
In appealing for more aid, Jordanian officials usually cite the total number of Syrians in the country, including those who arrived before the outbreak of the 2011 Syria conflict, often in search of work. The United Nations has registered about 635,000 Syrian refugees in Jordan since 2011.
The census, conducted late last year, indicates that 9.5 million people live in Jordan, including 6.6 million Jordanians and 2.9 million non-citizens. Syrians make up the largest group of foreigners.
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