Report claims Jordan deporting Syrian refugees
BEIRUT - Jordanian authorities have deported "vulnerable Syrian refugees," including wounded men and unaccompanied children, an international human rights group said Monday, adding that a Jordanian government spokesman denied the claim.
Human Rights Watch said that those deported include a group of 12 Syrians who had been receiving treatment at a rehabilitation center and four refugees, three of themchildren, whom Jordanian border police stopped near the Syrian border.
Human Rights Watch quoted the government spokesman as denying the refugees had been deported, saying they were taken to other unnamed hospitals. It did not name the spokesman. Another Jordanian official in Amman contacted by the Associated Press refused to comment on the report.
"Jordan is carrying a heavy refugee burden, but it should not be in the business of sending any refugees back to a conflict zone where their lives are threatened, much less children and wounded men who can't even walk," said Nadim Houry, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Such deportations create an environment of fear that affects all refugees."
