On the occasion of the World Refugee Day, which falls on June 20, every year, Jordan was commended by the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, for its support for Syrians who sought refuge on its soil, whose number now stands at 1.3 million.

The Kingdom is host to the second largest number of refugees per capita in the world, with 1 in 11 people forcibly exiled, and the seventh largest refugee-hosting country in the world, with over 730,000 refugees and asylum seekers of about 40 nationalities registered for international protection with UNHCR.

Despite its limited resources, the country has been embracing wave after wave of refugees for decades, and for that, it deserve praise, and more.

The UNHCR representative to Jordan expressed appreciation for the Kingdom’s “courageous step” taken after the London and Brussels conferences, and welcomed “the decision of the government to approve consecutive grace periods for Syrians to apply for work permits, and the waiving of the work permit fee”, which enables Syrians to take up employment in certain fields, not competing with local workers.

The situation of the refugees may not be rosy — how could it, when the economic situation across the board is dire and the country’s resources are strained to the limit — but Jordan has gone beyond the recognised efforts to help the Syrian refugees who found sanctuary and peace within its borders.

One should not forget the health services offered to them and the educational facilities opened to their children, at a time the international community has yet to meet its commitments towards support of refugees in host countries.

At the London and Brussels conferences, money was pledged by international donors to the cause of refugees, yet much of it was ink on paper.

The World Refugee Day should be a sad reminder that wars are still raging and poverty is still rampant in many parts of the world, that the refugee crisis is not dwindling, but continuing apace. 

The solution is not temporary — tending to become permanent — shelter in neighbouring countries, not handouts to once proud people, not mere promises to help, but tackling the root causes of the problem by putting an end to wars, helping lift countries from poverty, distributing wealth equitably, having enlightened leaderships and teaching values that shun hatred of the other, and religious and ethnic animosity.

Till that time arrives, there will always be refugees, poverty, chaos and ignorance that has the potential to kill.