Concern over refugees in Jordanian border area

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has expressed concern over the health and welfare of hundreds of refugees stuck along the border between Iraq and Jordan. There are some 1,800 refugees living in eastern Jordan, with more than half of them in no-man's-land. Most are Iranian Kurds, and a minority are Palestinian. UNHCR described the situation for the Palestinians as "particularly acute", saying they were unaccustomed to living in camp conditions. "The refugees encamped at the no-man's-land site are living in the middle of a flood-prone zone should heavy rains sweep through. Winds can also be heavy in this desert region, and respiratory ailments are common," an agency spokesman, Peter Kessler, told IRIN from Geneva on Tuesday. UNHCR has appealed to all concerned parties to help find a solution for them. The majority of the Palestinians are in a camp at Ruwayshid in eastern Jordan, and only about 60 of them are in the no-man's-land zone, which is largely populated by Iranians who left the Al-Tash camp back in April after the US led bombing started. Most of the Palestinians have Iraqi resident documents, while 14 hold Egyptian papers and three have Lebanese documents. None wants to return to Iraq, and the refugee agency does not recommend returns due to the current security conditions inside the country. Kessler explained that although security was good at the Ruwayshid sites, and the makeshift no-man's-land site located in a secure frontier zone with Jordanian and US troops at either guard post, the general security situation was less than satisfactory. The refugee agency is present at both the Ruwayshid camps and at the no-man's-land site, and recently replaced the tents, and distributed extra mattresses. The refugees also received five additional blankets, winter clothing and new cooking/heating stoves. Health care is provided, and urgent cases have been admitted to nearby hospitals. Water supplies are described as satisfactory. Other than about 3,000 refugees who had left Saudi Arabia since late July, 69 who returned recently from Iran, and hundreds who had gone home from Lebanon on convoys organised by the Beirut government, UNHCR was unaware of any other returns. Meanwhile, Amnesty International (AI) said it was concerned about plans by countries such as Denmark, Germany and the UK to force Iraqi asylum-seekers and refugees to return to their country, where, it said, the security situation had deteriorated considerably in recent months and conditions for were return were adverse. "The return of Iraqis must be completely voluntary," AI said in a statement. "To physically force people back, or to deprive them of their rights in a way that leaves them with no choice but to return, would be a breach of international human rights and refugee law and also goes against the UN Security Council resolution 1483." Security Council resolution 1483, issued in May, underlined that the UN had a primary responsibility to ensure that the return of the displaced population was safe, orderly and voluntary, the statement said.