Ammon News - AMMAN (Petra) Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour said on Sunday that Jordan is trying to determine the number of Syrian refugees and the locations where they are staying in the Kingdom in order to provide them with services as winter sets in and ensure their children will have education.
According to official estimates, about a quarter of a million Syrians have fled to Jordan since the 21-month-old crisis in their country began.
Ensour told visiting International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva and U.N Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres that hosting the refugees and continuing services to them requires aid and support from Arab and world nations.
The meeting, attended by European Union Ambassador Joanna Wronecka and U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR representative in Jordan Andrew Harper, tackled the current situation in Syria and its humanitarian repercussions on Jordan that had endured social and economic burdens for hosting the growing number of refugees fleeing the violence in the country.
Ensour told the U.N. officials that Jordan would continue its national and humanitarian role towards the Syrian refugees, noting that the Kingdom had received waves of forced migration over the past decades.
But he warned that the world's preoccupation with the plight of Syrian refugees should not diminish attention to Palestinian refugees and the services they needed.
The U.N. officials said Jordan's role towards the Syrian refugees is commendable and urged the world community and international organisations to extend aid to the Kingdom in order to continue to carry out its humanitarian role and provide the refugees' children with education.
Georgieva also hailed Jordan for keeping its border open despite the escalating violence in its northern neighbour.