UNHCR commissioner postpones Jordan visit

AMMAN — UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres postponed his visit to Jordan that was due on Thursday, after concluding a visit to Turkey.

In a statement sent to The Jordan Times on Wednesday, UNHCR Jordan said the new date for Guterres’ visit will be announced soon in coordination with the Jordanian authorities.

During his visit, the UN official was planning to mobilise the international community to further help Jordan as it hosts Syrian and Iraqi refugees, and to launch the “Home Visit Report” about the situation of Syrian refugees hosted in the Kingdom.

According to the UNHCR website, the agency’s financial requirements for the region to deal with the Syrian crisis and provide humanitarian assistance for refugees are set at $1.89 billion.

As for Jordan alone, the agency needs $404,432,393.

According to government figures, there are more than 1.4 million Syrians in Jordan and only 620,000 of them are registered with UNHCR.

Although Syrians constitute the majority of Jordan’s refugee population, the agency said there are also 30,000 Iraqis registered as refugees with UNHCR in the country.