Jordan Times
Monday, March 17, 2008
Jordan to host Iraq refugees
meeting
By Linda Hindi
AMMAN - A meeting of countries hosting Iraqis will open here Tuesday for a
second round of talks and coordination in the ongoing refugee crisis.
Government representatives from Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt, which are
considered the “core working group”, will attend the one-day meeting while two
observers from Iran and Turkey are also expected to attend.
Foreign Ministry official Nawaf Tal told The Jordan Times that the meeting is
meant as a follow-up to their first talks last July.
“Last year, all the political issues were addressed and taken out of the way so
this meeting will only focus on technical and humanitarian issues,” Tal said.
The talks will revolve around “recent progress made and future needs”.
During last year’s meeting, Jordan called on the international community to
issue immediate and direct assistance to the government to help it maintain
services to hundreds of thousands of Iraqis residing in the country.
The Syrian head of delegation raised much of the same concerns as Jordan, adding
the US must shoulder its responsibilities and extend direct assistance to hosts.
Members from G-8 and the UN Security Council are expected to attend the
gathering tomorrow.
Last month, the government and UN officials said Iraqis residing in the Kingdom
cost it JD1.6 billion in three years, and despite pledges from the international
community, actual financial contributions have been negligible.
Also last month, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres told
reporters: “The expression of international solidarity is out of proportion with
the [Iraqi refugee] impact."
He stressed that host countries, mainly Jordan and Syria, are seriously strained
under economic pressures because of the Iraqi influx, which, he said, is being
underestimated by the global community.
The government estimates that between 450,000-500,000 Iraqi nationals are
residing in the Kingdom, mainly in the capital.