Faraya calls for joint Arab vision to manage disasters

AMMAN — Interior Minister Mazen Faraya on Wednesday participated in the 40th Arab Interior Ministers Council Session in Tunisia, during which he called for developing a joint Arab vision for managing disasters, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Referring to the recent earthquake and regional crises, Faraya stressed that Jordan, like the rest of Arab and foreign countries of the world, dispatched aid convoys, under the directives of His Majesty King Abdullah, established a field hospital, and sent a specialised search and rescue team, to alleviate the impact of disaster on people.

Faraya offered condolences to Syrian and Turkish people, wishing the injured a speedy recovery.

The minister highlighted the role of Jordan in addressing regional and international crises, adding that the Kingdom is hosting the second largest proportion of refugees in the world compared with its population, of which there are approximately 1.3 million Syrian refugees, more than half of whom are not registered with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

He added that despite Jordan's limited capabilities, it provided refugees with security, education, healthcare, and a decent life, in addition to providing job opportunities for those who are able to do so alongside their Jordanian counterparts.

He said that Jordan has witnessed a clear decline in international aid, noting that the Russian-Ukrainian crisis has diverted the attention of donor countries to deal with the refugee crisis in Europe, leaving behind a crisis that has lasted for more than a decade.

Faraya called on “Arabs brothers to take into account the circumstances of their refugee brothers in light of the difficult conditions that our region suffers from”, and to wait for a political solution in Syria that ends the crisis and the humanitarian catastrophe and preserves Syria’s unity, cohesion and sovereignty, and restores its security and stability to create conditions that allow the voluntary return of refugees and “rid it and our Arab region and the world from terrorism which has posed and continues to pose a threat to all of us”.

Faraya thanked Arab Gulf states for their contribution to alleviating the suffering of refugees.

On the sidelines of the conference, Faraya met with the interior ministers of the UAE, Tunisia, Egypt, Iraq and Bahrain, to discuss bolstering bilateral relations.