Jordan rejects UN call to provide temporary refuge for displaced Syrians

AMMAN - Jordan on Thursday rejected a call by the United Nations to open temporary zones inside its territories for the displaced Syrians stranded at the border in Southern Syria.

Jordan's Minister of State for Media Affairs Jumana Ghunaimat said in a press statement that the UN's request contradicts with Jordan's interest.

The minister said Jordan does not plan to open the border with Syria, adding that the international community and the UN need to exert efforts to provide a safe haven for the displaced Syrians inside Syria.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, in a press release on Thursday, expressed deep concerns about the civilians caught in the crossfire in south and west of Syria, where an estimated 750,000 people live in danger.

He said more than 320,000 Syrians are now displaced, and most of them are living in dire and insecure conditions, including 60,000 camped at the Syria-Jordan border.

He praised Jordan "for generously providing protection to hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees since the beginning of the crisis and for providing and facilitating assistance to those in need inside Syria."

But he also urged Jordan to open its border to provide temporary refuge for the displaced Syrians, so that the international community can "provide immediate and substantive support to Jordan, in a spirit of solidarity and responsibility sharing."