Jordanian foreign minister Nasser Judeh appealed today to donor nations to assume their responsibility towards Jordan as it carries out "a key humanitarian" role towards Syrian refugees on behalf of the international community. He said at the opening session of a ministerial meeting of countries hosting Syrian refugees that Jordan continued to accommodate and provide services to displaced people as the Syrian crisis escalates. Also taking part in the meeting were Iraqi foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari, Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Egyptian deputy foreign minister for African affairs Hamdi Louzah, Lebanese social affairs minister Rashid Derbas and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Antonio Guterres. Judeh told the meeting that events and developments in the world should not divert attention from the Syrian crisis and its humanitarian repercussions, stressing the importance of coordination among refugees' host countries and the UNHCR. He said there was a need to reconsider the whole approach of dealing with the humanitarian needs and the influx of Syrian refugees into Syria's neighbors. Judeh noted that Jordan is currently hosting 1.3 million Syrians, including 600,000 registered refugees and 700,000 unregistered people, a figure which poses a huge burden on Jordan's resources. Guterres told the ministers from regional countries that international aid to Syrian refugees would only cover 25 percent of their needs, stressing that more assistance by the world community is needed at various levels - budgetary, infrastructure, health, education and energy.
