Syrian refugees stranded in Jordanian desert: HRW
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has condemned the Jordanian government for leaving hundreds of vulnerable Syrian refugees stranded in the desert along its border.
The New York-based rights group said in a statement on Wednesday, “Jordanian authorities have severely restricted informal border crossing,” leaving stranded hundreds of Syrian refugees who have been forcibly fleeing their crisis-hit country.
The watchdog also said that it had analyzed satellite imagery from large build-ups of refugees stranded just inside the Jordanian territory, adding that the trapped refugees seem to “have only limited access to food, water, and medical assistance.”
According to HRW’s statement, Syrians were allowed to pass all Jordan’s informal border crossings in the east and west until mid-2013. However, the western entry points near the Syrian towns of Tel Shihab, Hayat, and Nassib, have let in only a limited number of the war-hit Syrians. This is while Jordan has also imposed rigorous rules limiting the number of refugees it has allowed to enter from its eastern entry points since late March, 2015.
HRW added in its statement that, “Jordan should allow the stranded people to move further” in the country and allow the United Nation’s High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) “to register them as asylum seekers.”
Meanwhile, Nadim Houry, HRW’s deputy Middle East and North Africa director, denounced Jordan’s decision to “abandon newer arrivals in remote border areas for weeks without effective protection and regular aid access.”
War-plagued Syria has been the scene of violence since March 2011. The UN report shows that more than 220,000 people have lost their lives and over 3.8 million people have been displaced after fleeing the unrest.
The neighboring countries, including Jordan and Lebanon, have been the refugee’s destinations. In Jordan, some 600,000 Syrian refugees have registered with the UN. However, Jordan claims to be hosting nearly 1.5 million Syrians informally.
MIS/HMV/GHN
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