The Ministry of the Interior expected to stop financial aid for Syrian refugees residing outside the camps as of the beginning of next September, and inside them as of next October.

The Director of Nationality and Foreign Affairs, Basem Al-Dahamshe, said during the conference “Waves of Migration between the Southern and Northern Coasts of the Mediterranean,” in a speech he delivered on behalf of the Minister of Interior, Mazen Al-Faraya, on Sunday, that the financial aid provided to refugees residing in the camps will be reduced, starting from the beginning of next August.

He added that the percentage of financial support provided within the Jordanian response plan to the Syrian crisis amounted to 7.5% of the percentage of funding required for the first half of this year.

Al-Dahamisheh affirmed Jordan’s commitment to facilitating voluntary return procedures, since integration is not an option, stressing that the established fact is that the refugee’s homeland is his country of origin.

He referred to the directives of His Majesty King Abdullah II to stand by the refugees to alleviate their suffering and help them obtain the best services they need, commensurate with the volume of aid provided to Jordan. However, the priority of the Jordanian government is its citizens, not the refugees.

He pointed out that Jordan hosts large numbers of refugees on its territory, as the number of Syrian refugees has reached more than 1.350 million, and the number of births since 2011 until now has reached 233,153, and thus Jordan is one of the countries hosting the most refugees compared to the population.

He pointed out that the presence of these refugees on the territory of the Kingdom entailed great financial burdens, especially with the weakness of international funding for the Jordanian response plan to the protracted Syrian crisis, as the Syrian refugees are still

In the labor sector, he pointed out that the challenges were represented in the replacement of Syrian labor instead of Jordanian labor in many professions, due to low wages, as the costs of economic empowerment of refugees are estimated at about 239 million dinars annually.

On the issue of housing and shelter, he indicated that the challenges are represented in the fact that the caravans allocated to the Syrian refugees in the camps are not sufficient, as there are about 38,000 caravans inside that the UNHCR is unable to replace or maintain, as the costs of the shelter sector are estimated at about 10 million dinars annually.

Regarding the water and sanitation sector, he said: Jordan is one of the most water-scarce countries in the world. Since the beginning of the Syrian crisis, the demand for water has increased by 40 percent in the northern governorates, and by 21 percent in other regions.

And he indicated that this is mainly due to the increase in the population, as most of the renewable surface water is used, while the sustainable groundwater reserve is gradually diminishing, which leads to lower water levels and poor quality.

He referred to the Jordanian response plan to the Syrian crisis in this sector, which aims to rehabilitate and improve the infrastructure for water and sanitation services in the host communities, and improve wastewater treatment facilities, indicating that the cost of the water and sanitation sector is estimated at 133 million dinars annually.

In the matter of protection and justice, the number of cases before the judiciary has increased, since the beginning of the crisis and the influx of Syrian refugees into the Kingdom’s lands, which led to great pressure on this sector, in addition to the security burden imposed on all security agencies, as the cost of this sector is estimated at about 336 million dinars annually.

In the public services sector, the cost of this sector is estimated at about 76 million dinars annually, distributed over all public services provided to Syrian refugees.

Al-Faraya said that the urgent need requires providing material support for the World Food Program for refugees in light of the decrease in external funding for this program, as the annual funding value required to sustain the work of this program amounts to 41 million dollars, which increases the burdens imposed on the Jordanian government and the refugees themselves.

He pointed to the reduction of financial assistance provided to refugees residing inside the camps as of the beginning of next August, and it is also expected, according to information received from the management of this program, to stop financial aid for refugees residing outside the camps as of early September, in addition to stopping financial aid for refugees residing inside the camps as of next October.

He stressed that the issue of immigration is one of the priorities that the Jordanian official authorities are working on and giving it most of their attention and care through the immigration governance project, which the Ministry of Interior and the concerned authorities have begun to implement by establishing a unified database for foreigners in partnership with the European Union through (icmpd) and with the support of the Danish government.

He referred to the completion of the first phase of this project in the best way, and work is currently underway to implement the second phase of it, indicating that the ministry received delegations from several countries to learn about the Jordanian experience in this regard.

He added that a unified database was established to identify migration patterns, whether legal or illegal, regular or irregular migration, as well as combating human trafficking and human rights, stressing that the aim of establishing the database is to draw evidence-based policies by providing accurate information and indicators resulting from that data.

He pointed out that the Kingdom hosted the border security conference at the end of last year with the participation of many countries of the world, where the participants were briefed on the Kingdom’s efforts in the process of border management and control despite the regional conditions surrounding Jordan and its reflection on the actual reality, and Jordan’s role, despite these challenges, in preventing illegal and irregular migration operations across its borders.