UNHCR confident of resettling the 97 Palestinians on Jordan-Iraq border

UNHCR said they were confident about the resettlement of 97 Palestinian refugees from Iraq who are in Ruweished refugee camp, 50 km from the Jordanian-Iraqi border, after 49 Palestinians left the tent camp for Canada last month (most had been in the camp for more than 3 years). "UNHCR will aggressively look for resettlement opportunities for the refugees in Ruweished and once that has been achieved the camp will be closed permanently," said Rana Sweis, Public Information Assistant at UNHCR, Jordan. UNHCR Representative in Amman, Robert Breen said the UN agency was also exploring options to have the refugees relocated in Jordan in a "less hostile environment. The refugees continue to suffer from extreme cold in winter and extreme heat in summer; the real solution is to have them moved to a third country, but in the meantime we want to make their life better."