Amman - Countries hosting more than two million Iraqi refugees appealed Thursday for financial and technical aid from the international community. "Jordan urges the world community and the UN organizations to double their direct financial and economic support to the Jordanian ministries and institutions involved in extending services to the Iraqi refugees," the Undersecretary of the Interior Ministry Mokhaimar Abu Jamous said in an opening address to a meeting of hosting countries.
These, he said, had been exposed to "enormous pressure on utilities, education and health systems as well as on their infrastructures" as a result of the presence of such a large number of Iraqi refugees on their soil.
"The security situation in Iraq, which prompts larger number of citizens to leave their country, is enhancing security challenges for Jordan and raising the costs of security maintenance in the country," Abu Jamous said.
In addition to the three main host countries of Iraqi refugees - Jordan, Syria and Egypt - the conference is attended by representatives for Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Japan, the United States, Russia, the European Union and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
According to the UNHCR, about two million Iraqis have taken refuge in neighbouring countries, particularly in Jordan and Syria, where they are placing a heavy burden on their hosts.
The UNHCR described the exodus as the largest long-term population movement in the Middle East since the displacement of Palestinians that followed the creation of Israel in 1948.
According to tentative statistics, about 1.4 million Iraqis have fled to Syria and 750,000 to Jordan.
The Syrian ambassador to Jordan, Milad Attiyah, who headed his country's delegation to the meeting, said that his government believed the United States "as an occupation power, should bear a special responsibility in this respect in the light of its policies that create sufferings to Iraqis".
He added: "The United States is under responsibility to extend serious and real support to the host countries and to find a political solution that ensures the return of security and stability to Iraq."
Egypt underlined the importance of a successful political process in resolving the issue of Iraqi refugees.
"The political remedy based on comprehensive, realistic and balanced national reconciliation as well as confidence-building steps among various political, sectarian and ethnic groupings, provides the only way for averting mass exodus from Iraq," said Hani Khallaf, Assistant to the Egyptian Foreign Minister.
The Iraqi Foreign Ministry Undersecretary, Mohammad al-Haj Hmoud, conceded that a "real humanitarian problem existed" as a result of the presence of a large number of Iraqis in neighbouring countries, but said the issue should be addressed "in accordance with the international humanitarian law".
He accused some neighbouring countries of mistreating Iraqis fleeing their homes, such as forcing some of them to return home after stranding them on borders and at airports for days.
"While we acknowledge the security concerns voiced by those countries, we believe these fears do not justify treating Iraqis in such a humiliating manner," Hmoud said.
