FM chairs meeting on evacuation plan for Jordanians in Ukraine

AMMAN — Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi on Thursday headed part of an expanded meeting of the crisis cell that was attended by several ministries and agencies concerned with Jordanians’ conditions in Ukraine. 

The heads of diplomatic missions in countries neighbouring Ukraine also took part in the meeting virtually, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

Safadi listened to remarks by the representatives of the concerned agencies and diplomats regarding the latest developments in Ukraine and directed them to offer support and assistance to Jordanians in Ukraine, especially following the military escalation.

In this regard, the foreign minister called for sustaining communication with citizens in Ukraine and carrying out their evacuation plans to the Kingdom “with all possible means”. 

He noted the identification of several border areas with Ukraine as possible places for evacuation.

The ministry, over the past few days through diplomatic channels, has been discussing procedures to facilitate Jordanians’ transit through the territories of neighbouring countries of Ukraine. 

Safadi also directed the heads of diplomatic missions concerned with the evacuation plans to embark immediately on implementing the necessary procedures and preparing for any possible scenarios to receive Jordanians’ through land borders. 

He also called for sending diplomatic staff to be available on the ground at border areas to deal with any groups of Jordanians that enter these areas, issue any necessary travel documents, provide residencies for Jordanians, provide buses and offer flights to them, according to the circumstances and developments. 

The minister also directed to increase the number of hotlines and the numbers of embassies and concerned diplomats to increase the capacity of receiving the highest number of calls from Jordanians, in addition to immediately increasing the number of employees at Jordanian embassies concerned with the crisis.

Thursday's meeting is a continuation of the plan set to deal with the crisis and to evaluate developments, where the ministry in late January activated its crisis cell to follow up closely on the developments and intensify communication with Jordanians.