JORDAN: WFP head visits Syrian refugee camp in Jordan.

Record ID: 346710

  • Title: JORDAN: WFP head visits Syrian refugee camp in Jordan.
  • Date: 8th November 2012
  • Summary: AMMAN, JORDAN (NOVEMBER 8, 2012) (REUTERS) WAREHOUSE IN JUWAIDEH DISTRICT VARIOUS OF FOOD BEING STORED IN WAREHOUSE VARIOUS OF WORKERS PACKING DRY GOODS INTO RATION BAGS WORKERS PACKING FOOD RATIONS INTO BOXES MAFRAQ, JORDAN (NOVEMBER 8, 2012) (REUTERS) ERTHARIN COUSIN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE U.N. WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME, ARRIVING AT ZAATARI REFUGEE CAMP COUSIN WALKING AR
  • Embargoed: 23rd November 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Jordan
  • Country: Jordan
  • Topics: Social Services / Welfare
  • Reuters ID: LVA9AE1H9UOPBU5P7AMFE1XWHMR1
  • Story Text: The head of the World Food Programme says hundreds of Syrian refugees are continuing to arrive in Jordan every day.

    The head of the United Nations' food agency said up to 600 Syrians per day were continuing to register at a refugee camp in neighbouring Jordan.
    World Food Programme executive director Ertharin Cousin visited the Zaatari camp in northern Jordan on Thursday (November 8), where around 30,000 Syrians are sheltering after fleeing the fighting in their home country.
    But while Cousin was shown examples of the WFP food parcels given out to the growing numbers of refugees, many of those staying at the camp said they were going hungry.
    "There is no food, just some rice. There is very little food, this child needs milk," complained one man.
    "The food isn't great, we are always hungry. They stopped giving us cheese, and the piece of bread they give us is very small and not filling," said a woman carrying a child.
    The Zaatari camp, 80 kilometers north east of Amman, was opened in late July in an attempt to regulate aid efforts to Syrian refugees, according to Jordanian officials and aid agencies.
    But dusty weather and poor facilities at the camp have been major sources of complaint by the refugees.
    Cousin said the WFP was doing what it could to improve life for the refugees.
    "There are concerns and we are working to address as many of those concerns as reasonably possible. But I can tell you there is no truth to distribution of any food that is spoiled or in any way unfit for human consumption," she told a news conference at the camp.
    However, she said the agency needed more funds to continue its efforts to feed the increasing numbers of people arriving at the camp.
    "We're still registering between five and six hundred people per day here at this camp and in order for us to continue to meet the food assistance needs of those who are living here in the camp, we must receive the investment from government," she said, calling on Arab countries to donate.
    Cousin is on the second day of a three-day regional trip to assess the humanitarian needs of Syrian refugees.
    Her visit to Jordan will also include a meeting with Princess Basma Bint Tala, head of the Jordanian Alliance against Hunger and Malnutrition, and with senior officials including prime minister Abdullah Ensour and foreign minister Nasser Judeh.
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