Jordan’s King Abdullah urges more UN, world aid for refugees

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Jordan’s King Abdullah receives UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi at Al Husseiniya Palace. (Petra)
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Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Ayman Safadi meets UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi. (Petra)
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Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh receives the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi. (Petra)
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Updated 12 September 2022
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Jordan’s King Abdullah urges more UN, world aid for refugees

  • Monarch and ministers held talks with UNHCR’s Filippo Grandi in Amman

DUBAI: Jordan’s King Abdullah met with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi at Al-Husseiniya Palace on Sunday, with talks focusing on providing greater support for displaced people living in the country.

During the meeting, King Abdullah addressed global food security, and the international community’s obligation toward nations hosting millions of refugees.

Grandi thanked Jordan for aiding Syrian refugees. He said the UN agency would continue to support the Kingdom’s efforts, and encourage the international community to assist host countries facing increasing economic challenges.

Jordan’s Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh also met with Grandi on Sunday in a separate meeting.

Khasawneh cited the economic difficulties and pressure brought on by the refugee crisis in terms of the provision of education, healthcare, water and jobs.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Safadi warned of what he described as a “significant decline in international aid to refugees in the region.”

During his meeting with Grandi, Safadi praised the partnership between Jordan and the UNHCR.

He said statistics show that aid supported services for around 1.3 million Syrians in Jordan, of whom 10 percent are living in refugee camps.


Somali president visits city claimed by breakaway region

Updated 17 January 2026
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Somali president visits city claimed by breakaway region

MOGADISHU: Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Friday visited a provincial capital claimed by the breakaway region of Somaliland -- the first visit there by a sitting president in over 40 years.
The visit to Las Anod, the administrative capital of the Sool region, comes amid heightened diplomatic tensions in the Horn of Africa after Israel officially recognised Somaliland, drawing strong opposition from Mogadishu.
Mohamud was attending the inauguration of the president of the newly created Northeast State, which became Somalia's sixth federal state in August.
It was the first visit by a Somali president since 1984.
Somalia is a federation of semi-autonomous states, some of which have fraught relations with the central government in Mogadishu.
The Northeast State comprises the regions of Sool, Sanaag and Cayn, all territories Somaliland claims as integral to its borders.
Somaliland had controlled Las Anod since 2007 but was forced to withdraw in 2023 after violent clashes with Somali forces and pro-Mogadishu militias left scores dead.
Mohamud's visit "is a symbol of strengthening the unity and efforts of the federal government to enforce the territorial unity of the Somali country and its people", the Somali president's office said.