Syrian, Jordanian diplomats urge U.S. to share Iraqi refugee burden

Published: 2008-04-09

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The ambassadors of Syria and Jordan called on the United States to share the burden of the unprecedented Iraqi refugee crisis. "The situation is terrible and the burden" on Syria's resources and population is horrendous, said Imad Moustapha, Syrian ambassador to the U.S. The "United States is categorically refusing to help" solve the refugee crisis, "the largest exodus in the Middle East," he said. Moustapha was a participant on one of several panels at an April 4 forum, "The Iraqi Refugee Crisis: Law, Policy and Practice," in Washington. The forum, sponsored by Villanova University School of Law in Pennsylvania, gathered advocates, aid workers and lawyers involved with Iraqi refugees. Moustapha stressed the economic and security problems that 1.5 million Iraqi refugees in Syria have caused the already strained government, which subsidizes social programs such as health care and education for Syrians. Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein, Jordan's ambassador to the U.S., said the "volume of people in such a short space of time (in Jordan) is staggering to the mind."

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