Britain’s Prince Charles visits Syrian refugees in Jordan

Britain’s Prince Charles and his wife on Wednesday heard tales of hardship from Syrian refugees in Jordan and saw the difficult conditions for themselves.

Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, spent an hour at a UN refugee agency holding centre, King Abdullah Gardens, in the northern town of Ramtha, near the border with Syria.

Speaking with refugees, they heard about the difficulties of fleeing Syria and the challenges faced by the families, the aid groups helping them and Jordan, which now hosts about 450,000 displaced Syrians.

The royal couple was invited into a trailer where a 55-year-old man, who gave only his first name, Musa, has lived with his wife and five children since last September. He said he was arrested and tortured for writing anti-regime poetry before escaping to Jordan.

Responding to a question from Charles about how to end the ordeal, he said, “The Syrian people are everybody’s problem now. Help us.”

Charles expressed “enormous respect” for what Jordan and the humanitarian community have done for refugees and praised the “remarkable” work of the agencies on the ground, mentioning the UN’s refugee body, UNHCR.