Jordan's Queen Rania says her country is willing to employ refugees

posted on: Jan 31, 2016

Jeremy Lee

Straits Times

As the number of refugees from Syria and other countries keep on coming, Jordan’s Queen Rania has said that her country had a plan to give them jobs.

Speaking at a session on The Humanitarian Imperative at the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Queen Rania said Jordan is willing to set up “special economic zones that will employ these refugees”, so that instead of providing short-term aid, refugees would have job prospects for the long-term, according to the WEF website.

She also said Western companies should think of shifting parts of their value chain to the Middle East, calling for a “critical mass” of investment to provide much-needed jobs to areas with refugees.

“When you do that, not only are you giving the refugee the sense of economic self-sufficiency which will lower the cost of hosting refugees, but you also give him skills and training that he will put to good use when he returns to his country,” the WEF website quoted her as saying.

“In a sense you’re integrating a post-war Syrian economy across the border in Jordan that will kickstart the recovery process in Syria once the conflict ends. And that is really critical, and the alternative is really quite frightening.”

Jordan has taken in 1.3 million people, which is the equivalent of 20 per cent of its population.

Source: www.straitstimes.com