Jordan ‘exceeds capacity’ for refugees from Syria
Jordan has “exceeded its capacity” to cope with Syrian refugees, but those living in the kingdom should not be forced to go home, the Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi has said.
It was the first comment by a Jordanian official on refugees since the readmission of Syria to the Arab League this month.
Countries including Saudi Arabia and Jordan pushed for the Arab League to restore ties with Damascus.
Syrian officials said western sanctions on the country would need to be lifted before refugees could return.
“Jordan has exceeded its capacity to absorb the refugees at a time the kingdom is facing difficult economic conditions,” Mr Safadi was quoted as saying in a ministry statement after he met UN aid officials in Geneva on Monday.
“Resolving the refugee crisis lies in providing the necessary environment for the voluntary return of the Syrian refugees.”
He spoke of “the consequences of the retreat in international support for the refugees, as well as for the host countries”, without elaborating.
Jordan’s economy has been stagnant for more than a decade and unemployment is 23 per cent, officials said.
The kingdom depends on western aid, especially from the US, which is the main donor for Syrian refugees in Jordan.
A large proportion of the billions of dollars in aid in the past 14 years has gone to host communities in Jordan, aid officials in the kingdom said.
Funds from Germany pay the salaries of Jordanian teachers who give afternoon classes to refugees, officials said.
Grants are used to pay for infrastructure in Jordanian urban centres and rural areas where refugees live.
But some aid, such as food subsidies for the most impoverished refugees, has decreased since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February last year.
Resources have been shifted to help deal with human suffering of the conflict.
“These services should continue,” Mr Safadi said.
“The burden of [hosting] refugees is an international responsibility and not just the responsibility of the host countries.”
There are 670,000 Syrian refugees registered in Jordan, the UN refugee agency said.
Geir Pedersen, the UN special envoy for Syria, said “addressing protection concerns” for refugees was necessary before “any contemplated returns”.
Mr Pedersen, who was among the UN officials who met Mr Safadi in Geneva, said that any return of refugees “must be voluntary, safe, informed and carried out with dignity”.
Last year, about 52,000 Syrians returned to their homeland from Jordan and other host countries in the region, UN data showed. In 2021, 35,800 returned to Syria, while 38,200 went back in 2020.
Syrians started to flee the country in 2011, after a mass uprising against President Bashar Al Assad, who has ruled since 2000.
The 22-member Arab League suspended Syria in November that year over its crackdown on the protests.
In 2014, Jordan closed its border with Syria as the civil war worsened.
A rapprochement between Arab states and Damascus started in 2019, culminating in Mr Al Assad’s attendance at the Arab League summit in Jeddah last week.
Jordanian officials said a goal of the detente with Syria was to secure the help of its government to curb drug-smuggling operations.
Last year, about 52,000 Syrians returned to their homeland from host countries including Jordan, the UN says