Jordan's Lower House calls for increased aid to Jordan on refugee challenges

AMMAN, March 21 (Xinhua) -- Jordan's Lower House on Wednesday called for increased aid to the Kingdom to help addressing rising challenges imposed by the presence of a large number of Syrian refugees, the state-run Petra news agency reported.

Lower House Speaker Atef Taraweh said Jordan deserves the aid from the international community and that the Kingdom does not beg for assistance from donor community.

At a meeting on mitigating the impact of Syrian refugees in Jordan, Tarawneh said the international community and NGOs should honor their commitment to Jordan.

Jordan, which is home to 1.3 million Syrian refugees, needs more assistance, he added.

He stressed on the importance of the meeting, held in cooperation with the EU Council, reviewing challenges imposed on Jordan due to hosting a large number of Syrian refugees.

Burden on Jordan increased after the influx of refugees as it coincided with high unemployment rates and increasing poverty.

Tarawneh said Jordan cannot absorn more refugees and tolerate more pressure as it reached a stage of saturation.

On recent aid in cut by the U.S. to UNRWA, he called on the international community to increase aid to the UN agency that provides essential services to the Palestinian refugees.

The lower house speaker called for a lasting solution that leads to the creation of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital at the borders of 1967.

During the conference, which was attended by officials and donor community representatives, he reviewed pressure on the various sectors such as health, education and energy. Enditem