Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-03-24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received of injured children trying to leave Syria being turned away at the Jordanian border.

Mr Philip Hammond

We are aware that there are large numbers of refugees being denied access to Jordan at the Jordan/Syria border. Whilst recognising their legitimate security concerns and the need for proper vetting, we have discussed with the Government of Jordan the necessity of prioritising admittance for the sick and injured, including children. Jordan has shown remarkable generosity as host to over 630,000 registered refugees from the Syria conflict. The UK is firmly committed to supporting Jordan. We have contributed over £330 million to help Jordan since the start of the Syria crisis. As co-hosts of the Supporting Syria and the Region Conference held in London this year we helped secure over $12 billion of commitments of further support for those inside Syria and Syria’s neighbours Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey which are bearing the humanitarian weight of the crisis.