(Bloomberg) -- Jordan will not receive new refugees from Syria under any circumstances, Prime Minister Omar Razzaz said Tuesday, as a new Syrian government offensive threatened to send more displaced people fleeing to Jordan's border.
“Jordan cannot receive more refugees,” said Razzaz, who took office earlier this month. “We want a political solution.”
Jordan has taken in 1.3 million refugees from neighboring Syria's civil war, according to government data. The United Nations estimates 45,000 more Syrians have been displaced since the government launched an offensive against rebel strongholds in southern Syria last week, the Associated Press reported.
Foreign Ministry Ayman Safadi said the United Nations must take care of the refugees.
“Our borders will remain closed and the UN can secure the population with their needs inside their country,” Safadi tweeted on his official account. He said Syrians displaced by fighting in the south hadn't reached Jordan's borders.
To contact the reporter on this story: Mohammad Tayseer in Amman at mtayseer@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alaa Shahine at asalha@bloomberg.net, Amy Teibel, Glen Carey
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