Senior UN official in Jordan to address plight of refugees there

The United Nations Assistant High Commissioner for Refugees is in Jordan today as part of a bid by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) to assist hundreds of people who have fled there.

Kamel Morjane is visiting Jordan's Ruwaished refugee camp, which houses some 400 refugees. Another 1,200 refugees are in a nearby makeshift site "in no-man's land," agency spokesman Ron Redmond told reporters in Geneva.

"UNHCR is working to find a solution for the refugees in the two camps, particularly more than 400 Palestinians, many of whom would like to go on to other countries in the region since fleeing Iraq last year," he added.

Earlier this week, Mr. Morjane attended a meeting in Amman with Iraqi officials to hammer out a national strategy for the protection, care and assistance of refugees, returnees and displaced persons. "Intensive brainstorming sessions were conducted during the two-day meeting on issues such as assistance needs, capacity building, coordination, property rights and housing requirements," Mr. Redmond said.

Over the last six months, more than 6,800 refugees have repatriated to Iraq from Saudi Arabia and Iran on convoys facilitated by UNHCR.

During his mission, Mr. Morjane also met with senior Jordanian officials, the Deputy Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Karen Koning Abu-Zayd, and the Secretary-General's Acting Special Representative for Iraq, Ross Mountain.