EU relaxes trade rules with Jordan to create jobs for Syrian refugees
AMMAN - The European Union has relaxed trade rules with Jordan in return for allowing thousands of Syrian refugees to work in its companies, EU and Jordanian officials said on Thursday.
Jordanian manufacturers that employ a certain number of refugees will pay less or no duties on many of their exports to the EU for the next 10 years, boosting an economy strained by the presence of over 650,000 Syrians fleeing civil war.
The new policy, agreed in principle at a donor conference in London in February, is part of an EU strategy to stem the tide of asylum seekers coming to Europe by improving refugees' conditions in countries neighbouring Syria.
