‘UK presented £220m to Jordan since Syrian crisis erupted’

AMMAN — The United Kingdom’s assistance to Jordan amounted to £220 million (around JD237 million) since the beginning of the Syrian crisis in 2011, according to British Ambassador Peter Millett.

An infographic Millett posted on Twitter this week showed that this assistance was channelled to Jordan to provide essential services in refugee camps, host communities and municipalities, addressing drivers of conflict, fragility and insecurity.

In addition, the UK supported the Kingdom’s political and economic reform programmes by training young Jordanian journalists to report on important local stories and honing the skills of “tomorrow’s politicians”.

In response to a question by The Jordan Times on Thursday, Millett said the UK’s financial and economic support for Jordan in 2015 is still being finalised and is likely to be similar to last year, when it stood at about £75 million (around JD80.5 million).

According to the infographic, UK-Jordan defence cooperation included joint British-Jordanian troop exercises and 12 British ships visiting Aqaba in 2013.

In addition, the two countries worked on issues of mutual concern including the Middle East peace process and the Syrian crisis. Moreover, the infographic showed that over 1,500 Jordanians studied in the UK in 2013.