By Xinhua
Amman : Countries hosting Iraqi refugees have called for international financial assistance to relieve their economic and security burden.
Jordanian Interior Ministry Secretary-General Mukheimar Abu-Jamous Thursday appealed for financial aid from other countries to help the government provide basic services for the Iraqi refugees.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) statistics show about 50,000 people flee Iraq every month, mostly to neighbouring Jordan and Syria. About 750,000 Iraqis are currently staying in Jordan, costing the government $1 billion every year. Syria is hosting about 1 million.
The refugee problem can only be solved if security and stability were restored in Iraq, Abu-Jamous said at a conference here on the Iraqi refugee problem.
Mohammed al-Hajj al-Hmud, head of the Iraqi delegation, said the refugee problem has become a humanitarian disaster.
He called on participating countries to take action to prevent the problem from worsening or becoming politicised.
The one-day meeting in Amman was attended by Syria, Turkey, Iran, the US, Japan, Russia, Britain, as well as the United Nations, the European Union and the Arab League.