PM meets Grandi over refugees crisis

AMMAN — Prime Minister Hani Mulki on Tuesday and UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi discussed means of cooperation between the Kingdom and the UNHCR to meet the needs of Syrian refugees.

During the meeting, Mulki stressed the importance of cooperation with UNHCR and other relevant international organisations to urge the international community meet its responsibilities in supporting Jordan to shoulder the burdens of hosting 1.3 million Syrian refugees.

He stressed that Jordan is carrying out this humanitarian endeavour on behalf of the world, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The premier added that Jordan “is no longer capable of bear any additional pressure generated by the refugee crisis on the infrastructure and the main sectors such as healthcare, education, water and the host communities”. 

For his part, Grandi stressed the importance of ensuring the continuation of support to Jordan by the donor countries and the international organisations.

The commissioner said that he selected Jordan to be the first country to visit during his regional tour in appreciation of its role in hosting the refugees.

Also on Tuesday, Planning and International Cooperation Minister Imad Fakhoury met Grandi, a planning ministry statement said on Tuesday.

During the meeting, Fakhoury and Grandi discussed the Jordanian Response Plan 2018-2020 (set at $7.3 billion), which has been recently launched by the government and was prepared in a joint and intensive effort between representatives of all ministries and relevant institutions, UN organisations, donor countries and non-governmental institutions.

Fakhouri stressed the importance of funding the plan, which aims to provide the necessary humanitarian support to the host communities and support the general budget to ease the burdens of hosting Syrian refugees.

They underscored the importance of coordination to unify positions at the Brussels Conference, which is scheduled to take place in April 2018, and the need to urge donor countries and the international community to shoulder their responsibilities towards Jordan and to invest in the Jordanian model in responding to the Syrian crisis.

The minister briefed the commissioner on progress made in meeting the pledges listed in Jordan Compact at London’s Syria donors meeting in 2016, including the EU’s consent to simplified rules of origin by the EU for Jordanian exports to the EU market.

For his part, Grandi praised Jordan’s active role in dealing with Syrian refugees’ crisis, expressing his understanding of the challenges facing the Kingdom. He also stressed the need for the international community to stand with Jordan and give more attention and support to help overcome all difficulties facing the Kingdom.