KEY FIGURES
655,831 Syrians registered with UNHCR in Jordan, accounting for 7 per cent of the national population
58,455 Iraqis registered with UNHCR in Jordan, over a third of whom are under 18.
2 Jordan hosts the second highest number (87) of refugees per 1,000 inhabitants in the world
6 Jordan represents the sixth highest refugee-hosting country in the world
93 Percentage of Syrians living outside of camps and below the poverty line in Jordan
US $ 51 million Provided so far in 2016 in cash assistance by UNHCR to Jordan’s most vulnerable refugees
FUNDING
US $ 320 million requested for the Jordan Operation in 2016
HIGHLIGHTS
On 29 August, the United States met its year-long commitment, one month ahead of schedule, of welcoming 10,000 refugees from the region fleeing the conflict in Syria. Eighty per cent of those resettled were Syrians living in Jordan identified by the UNHCR Jordan operation on the basis of their vulnerability.
26,000 work permits have been granted to Syrians over the last year, the majority to refugees, and most since February’s Supporting Syria and the Region Conference. UNHCR is chairing an inter-agency livelihoods working group in Jordan to better coordinate the assistance provided by humanitarian agencies to the authorities.
UN agencies successfully completed an urgent relief operation between 2 and 4 August to provide a one-month ration of life-saving supplies to more than 75,000 people at the Syria-Jordan border. Access to the population has been severely restricted since an attack in the area in June.
*This operational update covers activities for the month of August.
UPDATE ON ACHIEVEMENTS
Operational Context
On the situation at the berm, UN agencies completed the first successful delivery of food and humanitarian relief items in weeks to more than 75,000 people stranded on the Syria-Jordan border. Between 2 and 4 August, 650 tonnes of onemonth supplies from the World Food Programme, UNICEF, the International Organization for Migration and UNHCR were transferred across the raised sand barrier by 70-metre high cranes.
UN agencies expressed their appreciation to the Government of Jordan for facilitating the delivery of critical aid, whilst also looking forward to further efforts to reach people at the berm with humanitarian assistance in time to save lives.
The UN remains acutely concerned at the conditions in the area where women, men and children, unable to cross the border, are facing deteriorating conditions in extreme temperatures with insufficient food and barely enough water to survive. Life-saving health care is urgently required for pregnant women, children, the elderly and the sick especially vulnerable.
On resettlement, an important milestone was reached at the end of August with the United States announcing that it had met its year-old commitment, one month early, to welcome 10,000 Syrian refugees by the end of September 2016. Eighty per cent of those were referred to the United States from Jordan by the UNHCR Jordan operation.
On livelihood initiatives, there was more good news for Syrian refugees with the latest figures released by the Ministry of Labour on 28 August showing that 26,156 Syrians, mostly refugees, now have work permits for legal employment in Jordan. This marks a significant increase from the two per cent figure before the Supporting Syria and the Region Conference in London in February where the Government of Jordan pledged to harness the skills of Syrian refugees in return for favourable international agreements which have since been secured from the European Union and the World Bank.