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Ammon News - AMMAN (Petra) A British minister has urged the international community to support Jordan in aiding a growing number of Syrian refugees who are fleeing to the Kingdom in thousands everyday.

British International Development Secretary Justine Greening hailed Jordan's major humanitarian assistance to the refugees and announced a 21-million-pound aid package for the refugees; 10 million will be earmarked for those in Jordan.

Greening said she is in Jordan ahead of an international conference, to be held in Kuwait on January 30, to look firsthand on the refugees' conditions and challenges facing Jordan.

She said it was not enough to hear words of sympathy by donor countries that will participate in the conference, but " they must provide financial humanitarian support, especially as the coming stage will be harder." The minister stressed that it is essential that the international community provides support for Jordan and Syrians refugees on its territory "to make sure that the border will remain open so that people can escape from the violence there, but we are also aware also of the intense pressures put on Jordan in dealing with such huge influx."

Greening on Saturday visited the Zaatari refugee camp to check on the living conditions of Syrian refugees in the camp.

The minister who was accompanied by Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme Ertharin Cousin and the British Ambassador to Jordan Peter Millet, was briefed by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Representative in Jordan Andrew Harper, on efforts being exerted to provide services to the displaced Syrians.

Harper said that the continuity of services is one of the major obstacles and challenges facing the UNHCR and other relief agencies. He also highlighted the important role of donor countries in supporting the UNHCR and other organizations to enable them to continue their humanitarian assistance to the refugees.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour briefed Justine Greening on the conditions of Syrian refugees in Jordan and services provided to them in cooperation with international relief organisations.

Ensour briefed the visiting minister on the economic burden posed to the Kingdom by hosting waves of migrations across its history despite its limited resources.

Since the Syrian crisis began twenty-two months ago, he said, Jordan had received over 300,000 refugees costing the country between 500-600 million dollars in services while the Kingdom had received an amount not exceeding $200 million in international aid, putting additional pressures on an already deficit-stricken treasury.

"There are limits to our resources, This is a huge burden for us to bear and the international community should swiftly move to help Jordan carry the burden of hosting the refugees particularly as the harsh winter started at the Zaatari refugee camp," he said.

Ensour said the past few days had witnessed a huge influx of refugees into the Kingdom, at some point at a daily rate of about 6,000 while Zaatari was overwhelmed to beyond capacity.

He said a newly set up refugee camp would only accommodate 5,000 refugees extendable to just double that figure, that's the number in one or two days of arrivals at the current exodus rate.

However, the prime minister added, the plight of displaced Syrians should not divert world attention from the cause of Palestinian refugees.

Greening commended Jordan's humanitarian efforts to save Syrian lives by hosting the refugees and said the UK would continue diplomatic and political efforts to find a solution to the Syrian crisis.

She said she will represent her country at a donors conference on Syria in Kuwait on Wednesday where she will urge the world community to help Syria's neighbours hosting refugees.