AMMAN: The UN refugee agency is stepping up efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19 among tens of thousands of Syrians in camps in Jordan after the first cases were confirmed last week, the head of the agency in the country said on Saturday.
The UNHCR confirmed three cases in the country’s largest camp for Syrian refugees, Zaatari, near the border with Syria, and two cases in a smaller camp, Azraq.
The infections in the two camps that house a total of around 120,000 refugees were the first confirmed cases since the pandemic was first reported in the kingdom last March.
“The developments this week have obviously been a worrying situation for all, but especially for refugees living in the camps. Crowded spaces and cramped living conditions make social distancing difficult,” said Dominik Bartsch, the UNHCR representative in Jordan.
The refugees who tested positive for COVID-19 have been sent to an isolation area set up by the Jordanian government near the Dead Sea while families of those in contact with them have been quarantined inside the camp, the UN agency added.
Jordan’s health ministry is, meanwhile, conducting thousands of tests, restricting movement in and out of the camps and training medical staff, Bartsch said.
The infections in the camps come at a time when COVID-19 cases been rising sharply in the country as a whole, since the start of the month.
Jordan is a major host country for Syrian refugees who have fled an almost decade-long civil war in their homeland. There are about 655,000 UN-registered Syrian refugees in the kingdom.
UN steps up COVID-19 measures at Syrian refugee camps in Jordan
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UN steps up COVID-19 measures at Syrian refugee camps in Jordan
- The UNHCR confirmed three cases in the country’s largest camp for Syrian refugees, Zaatari, near the border with Syria, and two cases in a smaller camp, Azraq
- The infections in the two camps that house a total of around 120,000 refugees were the first confirmed cases since the pandemic was first reported in the kingdom last March
Palestinian demolishes his own home in Jerusalem
- Building provided shelter for 4 family members
- Israeli authorities often compel Palestinian residents in Jerusalem to demolish their own homes for allegedly lacking permits
LONDON: A Palestinian in East Jerusalem demolished his home on Sunday after receiving an order from Israeli authorities for building without a permit.
Yasser Maher Daana, a resident of the Jabal Al-Mukaber neighborhood southeast of Jerusalem, was forced to demolish the house in the Salaa area. The building had provided shelter for four family members and covered an area of about 100 sq. meters.
Israeli authorities often compel Palestinian residents in Jerusalem to demolish their own homes for allegedly lacking permits. Those who refuse face demolition of the homes by Israeli bulldozers, and significant fines.
The Israel policy aims to forcibly displace Palestinians and expand Israeli settlements in Jerusalem, in violation of international and humanitarian laws that guarantee the right to housing, according to the WAFA News Agency.
The Israeli government faces charges of war crimes and genocide in the Occupied Territories at the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice.
