Jordan plans to host a conference to discuss ways of helping Iraq’s neighboring countries cope with the huge influx of Iraqi refugees.
The conference will be held next month and will be attended by representatives of Jordan, Syria, Iraq and the United Nations.
The decision to hold the conference was decided during a meeting of Jordan’s Foreign Minister ‘Abd Al-Ilah Al-Khatib and his Iraqi counterpart in Amman.
Jordanian officials say the burden of accommodating Iraqi refugees is costing the country an estimated $1 billion a year.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), about 1.9 million Iraqis are displaced inside the country and up to 2 million others have fled abroad since the United States-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
The largest number is hosted by Syria, with 1.2 million, and Jordan, with 750,000. There are also an estimated 100,000 in Egypt, 54,000 in Iran, 40,000 in Lebanon and 10,000 in Turkey. Displacement is continuing at a rate of up to 50,000 people a month, UNHCR estimates.
Conditions are particularly bad for Palestinian refugees in Iraq who have been forced from their homes. They have faced continuous harassment since the 2003 ousting of Saddam Hussein, who provided them with protection.