- Title: JORDAN: Top U.S. aid official pledges more money to help Syrian refugees.
- Date: 5th September 2012
- Summary: USAID ADMINISTRATOR RAJIV SHAH VISITING MEDICAL CLINIC ON CAMP REFUGEES SITTING USAID ADMINISTRATOR RAJIV SHAH SPEAKING WITH CLINIC STAFF SYRIAN REFUGEE WAITING BY CLINIC CLOSE OF REFUGEE INJURED ARM AND HAND (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) UNNAMED SYRIAN REFUGEE, SAYING: "It is because of the snipers. The guys took us to Jordan through tal Shahab."
- Embargoed: 20th September 2012 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Jordan
- Country: Jordan
- Topics: Conflict,International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVA38YFF3KXX9EDJHWAF0AIYUQFN
- Story Text: USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah visits Syrian refugees at the Zaatari camp and announces a donation of 21 million USD to help provide humanitarian assistance to them.
USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah visited Syrian refugees at the Zaatari camp on Wednesday (September 5) and announced a donation of 21 million US dollars help to the World Food Programme (WFP).
Shah told journalist that his government was not only concerned with the "brutality" of the Syrian regime, but also with the humanitarian needs of people in the region.
"The United States president Obama and Secretary Clinton had been very clear that we are calling on the Assad regime to end its brutal treatment and attacks on its own people and president Obama has also asked us the United States to do everything we can to support the critical humanitarian needs that are in this region," Shah said.
"We have already provided more than 82 million dollars of support for humanitarian priorities inside Syria reaching more than 70,000 Syrians with food, water and media support, and that is why today I am pleased to announce an additional 21 million dollars commitment in this case to our colleagues at the World Food Programme," Shah announced.
According to a statement made by the U.S. Department of State, 14.3 million US dollars of the donation will provide assistance to people inside Syria and 6.7 million to support Syrians displaced in neighbouring countries,
The Zaatari camp is home to more than 27,500 Syrian refugees, who fled the conflict in their country.
UNHCR's representative to Jordan Andrew Harper, however, said numbers of refugees fleeing in to Jordan have dramatically decreased recently.
"The numbers over the last two days dropped dramatically. We have seen that various border crossings might have been blocked or there is some reason people are not coming over in the numbers they were. Last night, we had only 26. We have been having an average of about one thousand, 500, and 2,000. We are not too sure that some heavy fighting is going on in Deraa and that could be complicating the situation."
Shah toured the child friendly space, which is run by UNICEF and the clinic. A Syrian refugee awaiting his turn to be seen by a doctor said he was wounded by snipers.
"It is because of the snipers. The guys took us to Jordan through tal Shahab."
The United Nations has said that more than 235,000 Syrian refugees have registered in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, while about 1.2 million people have been displaced within Syria. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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