AMMAN — The
Minister of Government Communications and government spokesperson,
Muhannad Al Mubaidin stated that the suspension of support provided to
UNRWA by
some countries around the world will impact the services offered to Palestinian
refugees in Jordan, considering it a threat to humanitarian and relief efforts,
Al-Ghad reported.
اضافة اعلان
Mubaidin mentioned that the halt in support to
UNRWA will
particularly affect services in the education and health sectors. He
highlighted that there are 161 UNRWA schools accommodating over 113,000
students, with approximately 4,557 workers.
This follows the decision of the US, the main contributor to
UNRWA, and other countries to halt funding to the agency in response to Israeli
allegations that some employees were involved in events on
October 7, 2023.
The agency had previously warned in recent statements of the
worsening risk of famine in the
Gaza Strip due to the lack of assistance. Its
figures indicate that there are 2.4 million Palestinian refugees in Jordan,
with 19,000 of them receiving emergency food assistance and 59 receiving social
protection services.
In terms of healthcare, there are 25 primary healthcare
centers, with the agency estimating 1.4 million medical visits annually and 671
workers in those health centers.
The agency had earlier outlined the requirements for
implementing its programs and projects in Jordan for the six years between 2023
and 2028 at approximately $1.282 billion.
The plan emphasized that Jordan continues to host the
largest number of Palestinian refugees in the region, estimated at over 2.3
million in 2022, including approximately 19,000
Palestinian refugees from Syria (PRS), who will need access to UNRWA's services and assistance.
The plan stated, "The social and economic conditions of
Palestinian refugees in Jordan are likely to remain difficult, leading to
continued high unemployment rates, especially among youth, and decreased
participation in the labor market, particularly among females."
Moreover, the plan highlighted that the demand for shelter
and infrastructure will remain high among Palestinian refugees living in camps
and among over 180,000 former
Gaza residents. Unlike the vast majority of these
refugees who have been granted Jordanian citizenship, this group lacks access
to health insurance, pays for higher education, and faces restrictions, despite
some recent facilitations regarding their rights to work and ownership.
In the absence of a solution to the
Syrian crisis,
Palestinian refugees coming from Syria to Jordan will continue to face severe
protection risks, lacking legal status and facing restrictions on access to the
labor market, courts, registration, and humanitarian aid.
It also noted that improvements in living conditions will
depend on Jordan's ability to recover from the
COVID-19 pandemic and overcome
the effects of rising global commodity prices, disruptions in the global supply
chain, and the negative repercussions of the
Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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