Refugees need help to restart a new life — UNHCR representative

DEAD SEA — With seemingly no end in sight to the problems in neighbouring war-hit countries, refugees need help to “restart” a new life, a UN refugee agency representative said on Saturday.

During a press conference on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum meeting on the Middle East and North Africa, UNHCR Jordan Representative Andrew Harper described refugees as “major stakeholders” in the economic growth and development process of host communities, commending the symbolic value of placing the refugee crisis on the agenda of the high-profile forum.

“Refugees are skilled and qualified and they can contribute,” Harper said.

“We are not going to see a change in the region, so our mission now is to help the refugees restart a new life.”

Acknowledging that the refugee crisis has reached unprecedented levels, he noted that the issue is still being handled as if it were only a regional concern, calling for more international assistance to refugee-hosting countries, especially Jordan.

“That hospitality is a Jordanian value should not bring the resource-poor Kingdom more burdens,” Harper said, noting that the international community has been taking host countries for granted.

Representatives of international telecommunication companies who attended the press conference stressed the important role the private sector can play in helping refugees live a normal life and in mitigating the burdens on host countries.

Elaine Weidman-Grunewald, vice president, of sustainability and corporate responsibility at Sweden’s Ericsson, underlined the pivotal role of the private sector in handling refugee crises, noting that her company has been providing mobile phone services to refugees.

Zain Jordan CEO Ahmed Hanandeh echoed her remarks, adding that refugees, like local residents, have the right to enjoy full access to Internet and mobile technologies.

“Syrian refugees in Jordan are to stay... so that they need education, jobs and entertainment,” Hanandeh said, noting that his company provides telecommunication services to Syrian refugees in camps so that they can keep in touch their families back home and know what is going on in their war-torn country.

According to the Zain Jordan CEO, 86 per cent of Syrian refugees in Jordan enjoy full access to the Internet and other telecommunication services. 

He said the local authorities impose no limitations “whatsoever” on Internet access within refugee camps.