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UNHCR chief discusses refugee crisis with Jordan's King Abdullah

News Stories, 12 February 2008

© Petra News Agency
High Commissioner António Guterres has an audience with King Abdullah II in Amman.

AMMAN, Jordan, February 12 (UNHCR) – UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres on Tuesday thanked Jordan's King Abdullah II for his nation's hospitality toward hundreds of thousands of uprooted Iraqis.

In an afternoon audience with the Jordanian monarch, Guterres expressed his "deep gratitude" for the generosity shown by Jordan in hosting more than half-a-million Iraqis who have fled violence in their homeland.

The High Commissioner, on a weeklong mission to the region aimed at highlighting the plight of uprooted Iraqis, said the international community needed to recognize the huge burden borne by host countries, particularly Jordan and neighbouring Syria, and do more to ease that load.

Guterres, who arrived in Amman on Monday, also met with Prime Minister Nader Dahabi, Interior Minister Eid Fayez, Foreign Minister Salah Bashir, Minister of Planning Suhair Al-Ali and the ministers of education, higher education and health. On Tuesday evening, Guterres was scheduled to travel to the Syrian capital of Damascus.

In addition to reviewing the refugee agency's operations, Guterres intends to assure governments in the region of UNHCR's continued commitment to, and engagement in, efforts to ease the plight of those displaced in the region and beyond.

UNHCR and its partners estimate that out of a total population of 26 million, some 4.4 million Iraqis are still uprooted, including 2.4 million displaced inside Iraq and 2 million outside – mainly in Syria and Jordan. In addition, more than 41,000 non-Iraqi refugees are in Iraq, including Palestinians, Iranians, Turks and others.

UNHCR this year has appealed for US$261 million for programmes to support the most vulnerable of the uprooted inside and outside Iraq. A total of US$40 million will be for Iraqis displaced inside the country and will also be part of the Consolidated Appeal (CAP) which was launched Tuesday in Baghdad by the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq.

The Iraq CAP of US$265 million aims to meet the immediate needs of the most vulnerable Iraqis who have been displaced inside Iraq.

UNHCR has been assisting internally displaced Iraqis, but getting help to many of them is extremely difficult because of insecurity in much of the country. In 2008, the refugee agency is focusing on getting assistance to 400,000 of the most vulnerable of the displaced people in Iraq.

Last year, UNHCR registered more than 250,000 Iraqis in neighbouring states; gave health assistance to some 210,000 cases and provided educational support in Syria, Jordan and other countries that enabled tens of thousands of refugee children to attend school. Under the 2008 appeal, UNHCR has set a target of bringing the total to 200,000 children in school by the end of this year.

UNHCR is also providing direct assistance to vulnerable families, including a project that provides cash cards for limited monthly withdrawals. Together with the World Food Programme, UNHCR will provide food for up to 360,000 Iraqi refugees in Syria this year. In both Syria and Jordan UNHCR is distributing items such as blankets, heaters, mattresses and other support items.

The refugee agency will also continue a resettlement programme for the most vulnerable Iraqis. Last year, more than 21,000 Iraqi resettlement cases were submitted by UNHCR to 16 governments for consideration.

By Ron Redmond in Amman, Jordan

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UNHCR Jordan Fact Sheet

The High Commissioner

António Guterres, who joined UNHCR on June 15, 2005, is the UN refugee agency's 10th High Commissioner.

Crisis in Iraq: Displacement

UNHCR and its partners estimate that out of a total population of 26 million, some 1.9 million Iraqis are currently displaced internally and more than 2 million others have fled to nearby countries. While many people were displaced before 2003, increasing numbers of Iraqis are now fleeing escalating sectarian, ethnic and general violence. Since January 2006, UNHCR estimates that more than 800,000 Iraqis have been uprooted and that 40,000 to 50,000 continue to flee their homes every month. UNHCR anticipates there will be approximately 2.3 million internally displaced people within Iraq by the end of 2007. The refugee agency and its partners have provided emergency assistance, shelter and legal aid to displaced Iraqis where security has allowed.

In January 2007, UNHCR launched an initial appeal for US$60 million to fund its Iraq programme. Despite security issues for humanitarian workers inside the country, UNHCR and partners hope to continue helping up to 250,000 of the most vulnerable internally displaced Iraqis and their host communities

Posted on 12 June 2007

Crisis in Iraq: Displacement

Non-Iraqi Refugees in Jordan

After Saddam Hussein's regime was toppled in Iraq in 2003, groups of refugees who had lived in the country for many years tried to leave the chaos and lawlessness that soon ensued. Hundreds of people started fleeing to the border with Jordan, including Palestinians in Baghdad and Iranian Kurds from the Al Tash refugee camp in central Iraq.

Aside from a few Palestinians with family connections inside the neighbouring country, the refugees were refused entry and free movement in Jordan. Thousands were soon stranded in the no-man's land between Iraq and Jordan or at the desert camp of Ruweished, located 60 kilometres inside Jordan.

Since 2003, Palestinians, Iranian Kurds, Iranians, Sudanese and Somalis have been living there and suffering the scorching heat and freezing winters of the Jordanian desert. UNHCR and its partners have provided housing and assistance and tried to find solutions – the agency has helped resettle more than 1,000 people in third countries. At the beginning of 2007, a total of 119 people – mostly Palestinians – remained in Ruweished camp without any immediate solution in sight.

Posted on 20 February 2007

Non-Iraqi Refugees in Jordan

Iraqi Refugees in Jordan

The UN refugee agency has launched a US$60 million appeal to fund its work helping hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees and internally displaced people. The new appeal concludes that unremitting violence in Iraq will likely mean continued mass internal and external displacement affecting much of the surrounding region. The appeal notes that the current exodus is the largest long-term population movement in the Middle East since the displacement of Palestinians following the creation of Israel in 1948.

UNHCR has warned that the longer this conflict goes on, the more difficult it will become for the hundreds of thousands of displaced and the communities that are trying to help them – both inside and outside Iraq. Because the burden on host communities and governments in the region is enormous, it is essential that the international community support humanitarian efforts.

The US$60 million will cover UNHCR's protection and assistance programmes for Iraqi refugees in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Turkey, as well as non-Iraqi refugees and internally displaced people within Iraq itself.

Posted on 10 January 2007

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