Pro-active, not reactive

The convening of the Higher Steering Committee on the Syrian Refugees under the auspices of Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour suggests that the plight of the Syrian refugees may be a prolonged situation that will last for years.

This clearly necessitates long-term planning, a strategy for how to deal with the more than half-a-million Syrians housed in refugee camps in the north of the country.

The growing number of Syrian refugees requires a holistic approach that entails an assessment of and dealing with several dimensions of the crisis.

It is no longer enough to have in place temporary or ad hoc solutions to the very many aspects pertaining to the Syrians now in our country.

There is pressing need for government agencies, UN organisations and local and international NGOs to coordinate efforts to that effect.

The prime minister highlighted, and rightly so, the right of the Syrian children to education and of the Syrian refugees as a whole to healthcare.

The fulfilment of these two basic human rights is most pressing, but one cannot stop there.

The enjoyment of the right to food, water, housing, sanitation is equally important and meeting that requires effort.

Since the Syrian refugees appear to stay on Jordanian soil for quite a while, this long-term challenge needs to be tackled.

Regulating the conduct of affairs in the camps where these refugees reside has become another focal point for the steering committee.

The fact that it convened demonstrates the will and determination of the government to deal with the Syrian refugee crisis head on and not leave it till the last moment when solutions are improvised in reaction to developments.