UK, Jordan urge more help to Syrian refugees, host countries

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague and Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh called on the international community to do more to help Syrian refugees and to alleviate the social and economic burden on host countries. "I paid tribute again to the extraordinary generosity demonstrated by Jordan, along with Syria's other neighbours, as they bear the huge burden of dealing with the flow of Syrian refugees," Hague said at a joint press conference with Judeh after their meeting here Thursday. "The international community needs to match that generosity." He unveiled that British government has pledged 500 million pound sterling to displaced Syrians and their host countries. "As the British Government, we have already pledged 500 million pound sterling in humanitarian aid, more than we have given for any previous humanitarian crisis. This includes over 109 million pound sterling to support refugees and host communities in Jordan." Hague said that both Britain and Jordan are encouraging other countries to follow this lead at the Kuwait conference next week. The two ministers also reiterated support to the planned UN-sponsored second Geneva conference for Syria peace. "The Foreign Minister and I agreed that the unrelenting pressures on Syria's neighbors, and the terrible suffering of the Syrian people, will only be relieved by a political resolution to the conflict and that is why we both fully support the Geneva II process as it looks to implement the Geneva communiqu{ of 2012 and create a transitional governing body in Syria in which in our view Assad can play no part," he said. Two ministers have also touched upon the latest developments in the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. "We also discussed our full support for the current Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, and paid tribute to the efforts of US Secretary of State John Kerry and his team. We welcomed the continued commitment of both the Israeli and the Palestinian leaderships," Hague said. "I briefed Foreign Minister Judeh on the unprecedented package of security, political and economic support that the European Union will provide to the parties in the event of a final status agreement. We agreed that Jordan and the Arab League have an important role to play in supporting the process in the coming months, and that our two countries would stay in close contact on this issue."