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Quarter of Syrian Refugees in Jordan Food Insecure, Says WFP

Syrian refugee children pose as they play near their families' residence at al-Zaatari refugee camp in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria, January 30, 2016. (Reuters)
Syrian refugee children pose as they play near their families' residence at al-Zaatari refugee camp in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria, January 30, 2016. (Reuters)
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Quarter of Syrian Refugees in Jordan Food Insecure, Says WFP

Syrian refugee children pose as they play near their families' residence at al-Zaatari refugee camp in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria, January 30, 2016. (Reuters)
Syrian refugee children pose as they play near their families' residence at al-Zaatari refugee camp in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria, January 30, 2016. (Reuters)

A quarter of Syrian refugees in Jordan are food insecure and almost two thirds are on the brink, the World Food Program said Monday.

This month marks 10 years since the start of the civil war in Syria that has seen over five million Syrians flee abroad, mainly to neighboring countries, including Jordan, according to UN figures.

"Food insecurity among refugees is now the highest since the families started coming from Syria 10 years ago," Alberto Correia Mendes, the WFP's Jordan director, told reporters during a virtual press conference.

"A quarter of refugees across Jordan are food insecure and 65 percent are on the edge of food insecurity, a stark increase since the (coronavirus) pandemic started," he added.

"Families are asking their children to eat less, removing them from school, sending them to work or even to beg."

Some 660,000 Syrian refugees are registered with the UN in Jordan, with authorities putting the number at 1.3 million.

The kingdom hosts the second-largest number of refugees per capita in the world.

UN refugee agency representative in Jordan Dominik Bartsch said at the press conference that, "a political solution that will allow the return of refugees to Syria is the ultimate goal".

But, he added, "while they remain in Jordan, we must ensure that sufficient opportunities are available for refugees, alongside Jordanians, so that they can be productive members of society".

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Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Resolution 1701 Only Tangible Proposal to End Lebanon Conflict

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)
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Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Resolution 1701 Only Tangible Proposal to End Lebanon Conflict

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)

Politicians in Beirut said they have not received any credible information about Washington resuming its mediation efforts towards reaching a ceasefire in Lebanon despite reports to the contrary.

Efforts came to a halt after US envoy Amos Hochstein’s last visit to Beirut three weeks ago.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri dismissed the reports as media fodder, saying nothing official has been received.

Lebanon is awaiting tangible proposals on which it can build its position, he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The only credible proposal on the table is United Nations Security Council resolution 1701, whose articles must be implemented in full by Lebanon and Israel, “not just Lebanon alone,” he stressed.

Resolution 1701 was issued to end the 2006 July war between Hezbollah and Israel and calls for removing all weapons from southern Lebanon and that the only armed presence there be restricted to the army and UN peacekeepers.

Western diplomatic sources in Beirut told Asharq Al-Awsat that Berri opposes one of the most important articles of the proposed solution to end the current conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.

He is opposed to the German and British participation in the proposed mechanism to monitor the implementation of resolution 1701. The other participants are the United States and France.

Other sources said Berri is opposed to the mechanism itself since one is already available and it is embodied in the UN peacekeepers, whom the US and France can join.

The sources revealed that the solution to the conflict has a foreign and internal aspect. The foreign one includes Israel, the US and Russia and seeks guarantees that would prevent Hezbollah from rearming itself. The second covers Lebanese guarantees on the implementation of resolution 1701.

Berri refused to comment on the media reports, but told Asharq Al-Awsat that this was the first time that discussions are being held about guarantees.

He added that “Israel is now in crisis because it has failed to achieve its military objectives, so it has resorted to more killing and destruction undeterred.”

He highlighted the “steadfastness of the UN peacekeepers in the South who have refused to leave their positions despite the repeated Israeli attacks.”