Amman (AFP) November 22, 2016 – The United Nations on Tuesday announced a resumption of aid to some 85,000 Syrian refugees stranded on Jordan’s border with war-torn Syria in what Amman has declared a military zone.
The kingdom closed the border on June 21, halting aid deliveries to a makeshift camp, after a bombing claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group killed seven Jordanian soldiers.
Since then, the kingdom has allowed a single delivery of aid to the refugees, back in August.
In October, Amnesty International said more than 70,000 Syrians were trapped in “hellish conditions” in a remote, arid strip of no-man’s land on Syria’s side of the desert frontier.
“The resumption of assistance comes at the start of the coldest period of the year, when temperatures can drop dangerously low,” a UN statement said on Tuesday.
It said the aid would include food, hygiene kits, winter clothing, blankets and plastic sheeting.
Jordan’s government said early last month that it would allow a resumption of aid in coming weeks.
The United Nations says there are more than 600,000 refugees from Syria in Jordan, a figure Amman puts at 1.4 million.
In August, King Abdullah II said his country was “doing its utmost to help refugees” from Syria.
“However, we have reached our limits… This is an international crisis and an international responsibility, and the world has to do its part,” he said.
