Jordan seeks $6.6 bn for Syria crisis

Jordan announced Monday it was seeking $6.6 billion from international donors to face the ongoing challenge of hosting hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees.

"We are launching a $6.6 billion intervention plan for the Syria crisis for 2020-2022," Planning and International Cooperation Minister Wissam Rabadi said at a press conference Monday.

He requested the international community's continued support, saying the Hashemite kingdom "is hosting more than 1.3 million Syrians".

"This has had serious repercussions on the economy, infrastructure and budget of the Jordanian state," Rabadi said.

Citing the novel coronavirus pandemic, he said the world was facing "exceptional circumstances" that presented "an additional burden for Jordan".

Jordan hosts some 650,000 Syrian refugees registered with the UN refugee agency, while authorities say some 700,000 Syrians were already in the kingdom before the conflict started in 2011.

In early 2018, the government and UN agencies approved a $7.3 billion aid plan for the kingdom to respond to the Syria crisis in 2018-2020.

Jordan, which shares a border with Syria, has often complained of shrinking international aid.

The Syria conflict has killed over 380,000 people and displaced millions.