Jordan seeks $6.6bn for Syria crisis

The pandemic is 'an additional burden for Jordan', which hosts hundreds of thousands of refugees

Syrian refugees stand at the Zaatari refugee camp, close to the northern Jordanian city of Mafraq near the border with Syria in July 2019. AFP

Jordan is seeking US $6.6 billion (24.2bn) from international donors to face the ongoing challenge of hosting hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees.

"We are launching a $6.6 billion intervention plan for the Syria crisis for 2020-2022," Planning and International Co-operation Minister Wissam Rabadi said on Monday.

He requested the international community's continued support, saying the Hashemite kingdom "is hosting more than 1.3 million Syrians".

"This has had serious repercussions on the economy, infrastructure and budget of the Jordanian state," Mr Rabadi said.

Citing the coronavirus pandemic, he said the world was facing "exceptional circumstances" that presented "an additional burden for Jordan".

Jordan hosts some 650,000 Syrian refugees registered with the UN refugee agency, while authorities say some 700,000 Syrians were already in the kingdom before the conflict started in 2011.

In early 2018, the government and UN agencies approved a $7.3bn aid plan for the kingdom to respond to the Syria crisis in 2018-2020.

Jordan, which shares a border with Syria, has often complained of shrinking international aid.

The Syria conflict has killed more than 380,000 people and displaced millions.