Al Arabiya: No U.N. consensus on Jordan’s Syria proposal amid refugee influx

Thirteen countries in the U.N. Security Council were in favor of Jordan’s proposal that the council visit the refugee camps in the Hashemite kingdom, a top-level western diplomat told Al Arabiya’s correspondent.

However, the source, who attended Thursday’s close-door meeting, said that China and Russia – a strong ally of Damascus – were against it.

Instead, Russia’s permanent representative to the U.N., Vitaly Churkin, suggested a delegation from the Human Rights Council visit Jordan, Al Arabiya’s correspondent reported.

Arabiya’s reporter also said council members who agreed to Jordan’s proposal suggested that Lebanon and Turkey be included in the mission, adding they were trying to convince Russia and China to agree to it.

All members of the Security Council have to be on board with Jordan’s proposal or else it will not take place.

Jordan on Tuesday told the U.N. Security Council that the influx of Syrian refugees was a threat to its stability and suggested the council visit the camps.

Jordan faces a “crushing weight” if the refugee numbers, already over 500,000, keep growing at the current rate, said the ambassador, Prince Zeid al-Hussein, after a private meeting with Security Council envoys.

“From the perspective of the Jordanian government unless the support is forthcoming, then we consider this to be a threat to our future stability,” Zeid said, adding that international help had been “insufficient.”

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said there were more than 1.4 million Syrians in Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan and that the figure increases by 200,000 every month.

The Jordanian ambassador also said on Tuesday that around 2,000 refugees cross the border into his country each night.

At least 70,000 people have died in the two-year conflict uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, according to the U.N.