New York, May 24 (Petra) — Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Ayman Safadi, held Wednesday extensive talks with Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, on efforts to reach a political solution to the Syrian crisis, and focused on the issue of refugees in light of the decline in international support for them and the need to move to create the necessary environment for their voluntary return to Syria.

Safadi and Guterres discussed the consequences of the decline in international support for Syrian refugees, and reducing their programs in the Kingdom by the relevant international organizations, which will increase the burden on Jordan that hosts about 1.3 million Syrian refugees, and takes all possible measures to provide them with a decent life.

Safadi urged the international community to continue shouldering its responsibilities towards the refugees, as host countries cannot bear this burden alone, which constitutes an international challenge.

Safadi said that meeting refugees’ needs is a collective responsibility of the international community and not the responsibility of the host countries alone.

He explained that Jordan has exceeded its absorptive capacities in hosting refugees, and efforts must be intensified to rehabilitate the infrastructure in Syria to facilitate their voluntary return, as their voluntary return to their country as soon as possible represents the only way to solve the crisis radically.

Safadi stressed the importance of the existing cooperation between Jordan and the United Nations in facing the burden of asylum and providing the requirements for a decent life for refugees, expressing appreciation for the international organization’s great role in helping Jordan to do so.

Safadi called for maintaining services to Syrian refugees in Jordan in full by the United Nations organizations, because Jordan cannot bear more burdens than it has borne for years, and the reduction of services will affect the right of refugees to receive the assistance they need to meet their life requirements.

About 10 per cent of the Syrian refugees reside in refugee camps, and about 155,000 Syrian students are enrolled in public schools, and the Kingdom provides them with full health services.

//Petra// AF

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24/05/2023 22:18:59