Jordan will ‘never abandon its humanitarian responsibilities’ — Amman mayor

AMMAN — Jordan has received multiple arrivals of refugees and migrants despite its limited resources and the resulting pressures on its infrastructure, yet the Kingdom “has always been a safe haven and will never abandon its humanitarian responsibilities”, said Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) Mayor Yousef Shawarbeh.

Participating in the Florence Mediterranean Mayors’ Forum, Shawarbeh added that Jordan hosts the second largest number of refugees per-capita, noting that the GAM provides services to its citizens, visitors and refugees, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Monday.

In his address during the session titled “Migrations across Mediterranean shores”, the mayor stressed the importance of boosting cooperation in the region especially at a time of recovery from the pandemic, highlighting the need to keep pace with rapid growth of refugee populations and mitigate the challenges resulting from hosting of refugees.

He said that Amman has contributed to the discussions of the Global Compact for Migration, the International Migration Review Forum and other migration-related meetings of the UN, along with its participation in the Mediterranean City-to-City Migration.

“We look forward to further partnering and supporting cities’ capacities, and for the international community and donors to pay more attention to refugee-hosting countries so they can keep working on their humanitarian cause,” he added. 

Meanwhile, Shawarbeh met Florence Mayor Diane Whalen who expressed her support for Amman’s efforts to host refugees, which he described as “not an easy task” that Florence has experienced before.

The two sides also highlighted climate-change related challenges, where Shawarbeh noted that Amman has adopted several strategies to address the issue.