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Jordan to deliver aid by crane to Syrian refugees trapped at border
Reports claim that humanitarian aid to 75,000 refugees stranded in a remote, arid area along the Jordanian-Syrian border called “the berm” is to be resumed
Refugees at the berm have been without humanitarian aid since a car bomb hit the area
Jordan is willing allow aid to be dropped by crane to more than 70,000 Syrian refugees stranded at the border of Syria and Jordan, government spokesperson Mohammed Momani announced Monday.
Aid groups managed to deliver food and supplies by lorry until June this year when Jordan sealed the border to all traffic after a car bomb hit the area. The attack was claimed by Daesh.
The news comes as the UN and the Jordanian authorities continue negotiations to open a humanitarian lifeline to the Syrians who have been stranded there since the incident. In the four months since, refugees at the “berm” – as the border fortifications are known – have been virtually without humanitarian aid.
According to the Guardian, aid groups in Jordan said that nothing had been confirmed. But Momani said in interviews with the Jordan Times and Associated Press (AP) that a plan had been set in motion.
“The new mechanism will be delivering aid on the berm through cranes, and the aid will be given to community leaders of groups of Syrians so they can distribute it accordingly,” he told AP.
If the plan goes ahead, the aid could alleviate a dire humanitarian situation on the border, where Amnesty International says disease is rife owing to the absence of medical care since the start of summer.
Amnesty cautiously welcomed Monday’s announcement, but warned that cranes were no substitute for allowing aid workers direct access to the 75,000 refugees.
“News that humanitarian assistance will be resumed to tens of thousands of refugees stranded at the berm comes as a welcome relief. However, Amnesty International is extremely concerned about reports that aid will be delivered by crane rather than through a response that would allow for organisations to have unfettered humanitarian access to refugees at the berm who continue to live in inhumane conditions,” Khairunissa Dhala, a refugee researcher for Amnesty, said. “Furthermore, this short-term solution must not distract the Jordanian government and the international community from finding a sustainable longer–term solution for the stranded refugees.”
