AMMAN, Jordan, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- The Jordanian government said it would continue to support Iraqi refugees in Jordan despite them costing $2.2 billion over the past three years.
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres met with Jordan's King Abdullah and Prime Minister Nader Dahabi to discuss the burden placed on Jordan by hosting Iraqi nationals fleeing the violence in their country, the Jordanian government said in a statement Wednesday.
Abdullah spoke with Guterres on the humanitarian stress facing Iraqi refugees but said the country would continue to provide healthcare and educational services for them.
Radwan Nouicer, the regional director for the U.N. refugee agency, said Guterres would ask "the international community for direct assistance to Jordan so it can sustain the substantial services being offered to Iraqis."
Nouicer said the support provided by the United Nations would be "very limited" because the refugee issues facing Jordan are more than the U.N. refugee agency can handle.
