Jordan, UNHCR warn they cannot maintain quality of assistance to Syrian refugees

AMMAN — Jordan and the UNHCR on Thursday warned that they might not be able to provide the same level of assistance to the Syrian refugees without further support from the international community.

At a joint press conference on Thursday, the government, UNHCR and its partners called on the international community to step up and help Jordan mitigate the impact of hosting more than 600,000 Syrian refugees.

The UNHCR said that the UN agency has only received 40 per cent of the funds needed until the end of the year to continue providing services for Syrians.

According to Andrew Harper, UNHCR Jordan representative, the funds received so far might be enough until August as there is a $600m shortfall of the $1 billion that the UN agency requested for the year.

“We are concerned that funding is not going at the same pace as the number of refugees is increasing,” Harper said at a joint press conference with Ibrahim Saif, minister of planning and international cooperation.

Although Jordan will not stop providing assistance for Syrian refugees and will keep the border open for any newcomers, Saif said shortage in funds will affect the type and quality of assistance.

“As the crisis continues, the direct cost of extending public services to Syrian refugees within Jordanian host communities continues to accumulate,” Saif said.

The minister explained that Jordan is committed to continuing hosting Syrian refugees, but with a lack of funds, the country can “only… provide the minimum help”.

He added that Jordan “can’t sustain the same level of services” as “we have our economic worries and issues that are increasing with hosting the refugees”.

The minister noted that faced with the threats resulting from a regional political crisis, both in Syria and Iraq, as well as economic hardship domestically as a result of hosting such a large number of refugees, support to Jordan is critical to defuse destabilising effects of the regional crisis — politically and economically.

This was also echoed by Harper who noted that Jordan should not go and ask for money to deal with the refugee issue, as the world should assume its responsibilities and help.