World Emergency Relief Reports of 'Hidden Crisis' in Jordan

Christian charity World Emergency Relief (WER) reports of a 'hidden crisis' across Jordan, as the number of Iraqi refugees continues to grow there.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that there are now 700,000 Iraqi refugees living in Jordan, causing the cost of living to spiral beyond the means of much of the population.

WER's director of operations, Alex Haxton, who has been in Jordan last week says: "This is the biggest crisis to be faced by Jordan for many decades," he explains, speaking from the country's capital Amman. "Property prices have increased three-fold in two years and the price of kerosene has doubled in the last year. Many of the families we've spoken to say they can no longer afford to heat their homes.

"Hundreds of thousands of Jordanians, not to mention Iraqi refugees, are finding their income is no longer adequate to meet basic needs so the situation is only going to get worse.

"Prices are soaring and hardship is growing but there is little or no money being allocated by the international community, even though the situation is direct fallout from the conflict in Iraq. This crisis affects Jordan as a whole, not just the refugee population, and needs our attention now before it escalates."

It is estimated that around two million Iraqis have fled their country and are living in increasingly difficult conditions in neighbouring countries like Jordan, Syria, Egypt and Lebanon. This represents the largest long-term displacement of people since the uprooting of Palestinians during the creation of Israel in 1948.

This week Jordan has imposed severe restrictions on the number of refugees entering the country from Iraq. With no official registration process, those fleeing the conflict don't have refugee status. As a result, most of the 700,000 Iraqis already there are living in acute poverty in poor accommodation, with many children prevented from attending school.

Two 40ft containers of relief supplies shipped by WER are due to arrive in Jordan, distributed by WER's local Amman-based Christian partner IOMERD, to the Iraqi refugee population and any Jordanians suffering similar levels of hardship.