Safadi, EU’s Schinas discuss partnerships, refugee support

AMMAN — Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi met on Tuesday with European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas, with the talks focusing on enhancing the Jordanian-EU partnerships across various fields.

Safadi and Schinas addressed the Syrian refugee crisis, stressing the need for the international community to shoulder its responsibilities towards refugees, rather than burdening Jordan and host countries alone, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

Safadi expressed concern about the decline in international support for refugees, host countries and refugee-related organisations.

Expressing appreciation for the EU's support for Jordan's efforts to provide basic services to refugees, Safadi stressed the need for sustained cooperation between donor nations and host countries to ensure that refugees have access to decent living conditions.

Schinas praised Jordan's role in hosting refugees and providing them with essential livelihood support.

Also on Tuesday, Schinas made a visit to the Azraq refugee camp in Zarqa, where he stressed the need for the international community to remain committed to supporting Jordan and other host countries, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Schinas praised the "exceptional generosity" of the Kingdom in hosting large numbers of refugees from various nationalities over the past decades due to wars and dire humanitarian conditions in their home countries.

Schinas also noted that since the outbreak of the conflict in Syria, the EU has played a prominent role as the largest donor to Syria and neighbouring countries, providing over 33 billion euros in humanitarian, development and economic aid to stabilise the region.

He highlighted that during the eighth Brussels Conference on Syria, hosted by the EU last week, the union and its member states pledged an additional 6 billion euros to support host countries, including Jordan.

He explained that since the outbreak of the Syrian crisis in 2011, the EU has supported Jordan with 4 billion euros in humanitarian aid and financial facilities to help it cope with the impact of the Syrian refugee crisis.

Schinas highlighted that the EU's support for Syrian refugees in Jordan focuses on providing access to essential services such as education, health, social protection, and self-reliance (livelihood opportunities), both within the camps in Azraq and Zaatari and in the surrounding communities.

UNICEF Representative in Jordan Philippe Duamelle appreciated the EU's role in supporting Jordan and UNICEF, enabling them to continue their work in caring for refugees and providing health services through hospitals and health centres in the camps.

He commended the significant facilitation provided by Jordan to the organisation and the logistical support offered by the Jordanian government for its humanitarian operations in the country.

Duamelle called for increased and continued support from the EU, especially given the cessation of aid from some other international entities, to ensure that humanitarian relief operations for Syrian refugees in Jordan are not affected until they can return to their country.

Schinas and his accompanying delegation toured the camp, along with EU Ambassador to Jordan Pierre-Christophe Chatzisavas and Camp Director Col. Fadi Zoubi.

During the tour, Schinas checked on various facilities, including nurseries, kindergartens, the comprehensive health centre and one of the major commercial markets.

He also visited the water supply station for the camp, which includes two water wells and a complete system for pumping water to over 44,000 refugees residing in the camp, where the daily water allocation per person is some 50 litres.